


Not everything is what it seems.

by PepperCupcake



Category: Deus Ex (Video Games), Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Slow Build, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2019-03-29
Packaged: 2019-08-08 02:11:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 46,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16420385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PepperCupcake/pseuds/PepperCupcake
Summary: In a world where information can be a much more deadly weapon than a gun, a society torn apart by capitalism must face a new reality. The great progress of technology and cybernetics have made mankind have control of evolution itself. Transhumanism is a reality and there are people who have decided to get augmentation technology on its own body.The story begins at Sarif Industries -the main company that makes and distributes augments- when its security chief and formerly decorated  SWAT, Adam Jensen, suffers a life-changing accident, forcing him to accept a new dark and uncertain future and compeling Francis Pritchard -the cybersecurity expert of the same company- to confront a past from which he has been running away for too long.Despite how much they both hate each other they are forced to work together causing a change in their relationship. Will they have time to take care of their personal affairs while leading light in the struggle against the most influential secret society of all time?





	1. The beginning of something new

**Author's Note:**

> I'll try to write the entire argument of Deus Ex: Human revolution, changing some aspects so they make sense with the new story I am trying to tell.  
>   
> If you just stumble to this story, you have read the first chapter and have thought "meh", please give it a try. This is my first fic. I put a lot of love in it, but I am aware that I will have made many mistakes. Constructive criticism always be welcome.  
> But, pretty please... Give it a try! Nothing would make me happier than knowing you've enjoyed reading my fic!
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading it almost as much as I enjoy writing it.

The day had been too quiet. Write tedious reports, meet with Pritchard due to obligation of Sarif and end up having their usual argument to continue with the reports.  
  
Adam had become accustomed to seeing the world with a yellow filter, his new lenses were very useful. In combat they showed him vital information and the rest of the time he had an excuse not to show his face. The streets of Detroit showed the true nature of the people at night and he did not want to be part of that misery. He quickened his pace to get to his apartment earlier, he just wanted to go home to grab a bowl of cereal and go to bed. However, something caught his attention: Pritchard's motorcycle was down on the ground. The tech refused to park it in the garage with the rest of the cars, an understandable attitude considering that he was not the most beloved person in the company. Now it was lying on the floor. Adam went into the alley, Pritchard was a pain in the ass, but he was not going to let them rob him just because they argued in the office today.  
  
Two augmented men were holding the tech on the ground. The hand of one of them was pulling hard on his ponytail while the other was pointing a gun at him. The security chief clenched his fists trying to calm his anger, but all he managed to do was activate his blade.  
  
            - Come on, pretty girl. Give us those credits or you have pay in another way.  
  
Everything happened in the blink of an eye, with a simple movement he left the two thieves unconscious. Pritchard tugged at the folds of his leather jacket with trembling hands and then placed the strands of hair that had been released from the ponytail behind his ear.  
  
            - What have they stolen? – Adam said ducking to his side, avoiding physical contact with the man.  
  
The tech looked up and when he met Adam's eyes, he exhale a sigh of relief. Without further words, the aug searched the unconscious bodies of the thieves for some familiar objects: a bunch of keys, a datapad, a couple of energetic bars and a pot full of caffeine pills that he kept in the pockets of his coat.  
  
            - Are you missing something else? - Frank shook his head - You should not stay alone in this state. Come to my house, you can leave your motorcycle in the garage.  
            - Can you ... can you help me get up off the ground? I hurt my leg and I do not know if...  
  
Without letting him finish the sentence, Adam wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled gently upwards. The two men walked in silence towards the motorcycle lying on the ground.

 

Adam let Pritchard sit on the couch. He removed all the books and papers on the table to empty his pockets. Both were silent, but it was not an uncomfortable environment..  
  
            - After what happened this morning, I did not think ...  
            - I keep this morning's opinion, but that does not mean I'm going to leave you at the mercy of two thieves.  
  
The man walked to the side panel of the apartment, entered a code and unveiled a hidden compartiment on the wall. Inside were several devices that helped hack, a praxis package, a stun gun, a rifle, several boxes stacked with ammo and a few energy bars. He looked for a yellowish box and took it out, along with the paralyzing gun. He returned to the panel and closed the secret compartment.  
  
            - You should go home early or start having a weapon among your belongings. A stun gun will not kill your target and give you time to run, take it always with you- He sat next to him and put all the ammunition that was kept inside the gun until he could not put more bullets.  
            - I do not want to leave you without a gun.  
            - This is my spare gun and you're not going to get out of here without taking it. What happed tonight can't be repeated.  
            - Jens ... Adam, thank you.  
  
The usual sarcasm in Pritchard's tone had faded and, despite the melancholy tone in his voice, he seemed genuinely grateful. Adam got up to order Chinese food from his computer, a menu for two with extra soy sauce. He didn’t need to walk to the kitchen to discover that he had nothing edible.  
While waiting for the delivery man, Adam headed to his room and searched the clothes that were in his closet. He managed to find pajama pants and a sports shirt that he no longer remembered keeping. He left the clothes in the bathroom and approached Pritchard.  
  
            - You have some blood on your clothes, I think you should take it off, shower and then heal the wounds you have. I left some clothes in the bathroom. Do you want me to help you walk?  
            - No, I can do it by myself.  
  
The tech got up very slowly. Adam looked at him from afar with dissimulation, prepared to catch him if he was destabilized. However, that moment never came, and Pritchard was able to reach the bathroom door after a while.

 Pritchard closed the bathroom door and the broken mirror caught his attention. The hit was quite focused, like someone has punched him. He could still see himself reflected in the larger pieces and he could not help but sigh. the intensity of his dark circles underlined even more the blue color of his eyes and his extreme pallor. The partially undone ponytail didn’t improve its physical appearance.

He began to undress calmly and pulled off the rubber band that held his hair and went into the shower. Normally he liked the tingling of his hair on the shoulders, this time he was willing to eliminate that feeling as soon as possible.

The shower lasted the minimum required. Despite the hospitality received, he wasn’t too comfortable naked in Adam’s apartment. He dried his body with a towel that was folded over the closet and put on the clothes that Adam had lent him.

He hated to admit it, but the shower had set him up very well: his head stopped spinning and the pain in the leg had reduced considerably. He picked up the clothes that were on the floor and walked to the sofa again taking care not to hurt his leg.

            - What the hell happened to your mirror?  
            - Complaints? I suppose you have already overcome the shock. Anyway… How's your leg?  
            - Perfect - he said dryly. Pritchard didn’t turn his head, but Adam could feel the hard look he was giving to him.

A loud noise was heard around the apartment. Adam got up quickly to pick up the order and looked at Pritchard for a few seconds before bringing the food to the table. His loose hair changed his face completely, he looked very vulnerable.

            - Chinese Food?  
            - And whiskey - said bringing two glasses and a bottle to the table.

Adam sat next to him and, as usual, turned on the television. He was never interested in any program, but he liked the noise. It gives a false sense of company. Pritchard caught the glass between his hands, closed his eyes, drank its contents and repeat the process with the glass next to it. Regret went up his back, he didn’t want to explain anything to the security chief. Surprisingly, Adam poured another two glasses of whiskey in silence.

The tech took a quick look at the table of his belongings and released a sigh filled with indignation.

            - Those bastards took my smokes.

Adam threw a packet into the man's lap and take one of the Chinese food containers. A science fiction movie from the 80’s that seemed to be about to end, showed a close-up of a hacker monitoring several command screens.

            - This hacker is a collection of clichés, but... I bet no one would see a film with a realistic script - said Frank pointing at the TV with his fork.  
            - The soldier isn’t better. If this movie were realistic, the shotgun would have hit him several times in the face because of the recoil.

Adam felt a twinge of guilt to know what his partner was referring, in his conscience weighed the memory of the hacking of his computer. Pritchard didn’t say anything, but he made a strange grimace that the most optimistic could consider as a smile. They finished the rest of the dinner in silence.

            - I must do a few things around here tonight and I'm going to make noise, my room is the only one that has a door. You should try to sleep a bit.

Frank got up from the sofa and opened his mouth to refuse, but the alcohol he had drunk hit him hard on the head and, suddenly, he didn’t want an argument.

            - a’ight - it's the only thing he managed to articulate.

He took advantage of the fact that he was already on his feet and without too much thinking, he walked to the only room in the apartment that had the door closed. When he reached his destination, he opened the door and threw himself on the bed. After a few seconds where the only noise was the sound of his own breathing, he was completely asleep. Adam watched the scene from afar, closed the bedroom door and lay down on the sofa. The blanket that hung on the back unrolled and covered his body.

The streets of Detroit took little time to see the dawn.


	2. The eyes are the mirrors of the soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam worries too much about Pritchard.

Pritchard rubbed his eyes and reached for his cell phone. 3.40AM. He put it back in his pocket. Once again, he had stayed working late, if he went home right now he would only be able to sleep 2 hours. He decided to get up from his seat, take the cup that was on the table and go to the rest room. A well-loaded coffee surely will help to extend his working day a little longer. Adam had his back to the door, sitting on a chair and smoking a cigarette while looking through a window.

               - Working late?

               - Is that the best comment that comes to someone who has stumbled on his own ego to come here?

Pritchard rolled his eyes and went to the sink to rinse the cup that had some remnants of his previous coffee. He tried not to start an argument with the aug because how much he helped him a few days ago, but finally he could not help but let go of all the frustration he was holding in his head.

                - I'm as disgusted with your presence as you are with mine, but I've been nineteen hours without getting up from a chair trying to finish a security test on the network.

Adam turned to look at the man, his lenses were placed over his eyes to hide his expression. However, his social aug seemed to be broken, when selecting the thin man as target, the only thing it captured was his extreme tiredness. It couldn’t read anything about his character.

               - I'm tired, but your dark circles are starting to get scary. Maybe you should think about going home and taking a couple of days off to rest.

      - And let you take all the glory? No, thanks - Pritchard pressed hard on the button of the old coffee maker and the only thing he received was the sound of an error - Right now the only thing I want is a damn cup of coffee and it seems that I am not worthy of that honor.

The tech walked towards the door with a grumpy expression, Adam grabbed his arm to prevent him from continue.

               - turn off your computer and go home. I'll talk to Sarif tomorrow.

               - Are you my father now?

               - No, I am someone whose life depends on your mental agility. Today I just have to pick up a chip, I think I can do it without your help. It is a trivial mission.

               - If I'm not here when you bring it, Sarif and you can have the great idea to connect it where it shouldn't be and shoot all the alarms. I haven’t finished my analysis yet and I don’t want you to screw it up. We aren't talking about a regular chip, it’s a neural chip. Also, you've been as sleepless as I've been. I think that's also a factor you must take into before you start pointing fingers about your poor performance.

               - What I've heard is genuine concern? You flatter me, Pritchard - the tech rolled his eyes - I'll pick up the chip and store it in a drawer until the God of Computers come back. Happy now?

The tech presses his hand over his aching neck, kept a small argument with himself in silence to finally give in to Adam's proposal. The aug was right, staying awake for the last few hours had cost him a good helping of caffeine pills.

               - I will leave my infolink activated. If anything happens, call me and ...

               - Go now, Francis.

 

 Adam leaned his back against the back of the chair wanting to finish all those safety reports. The light of dawn filled the room and he got up to turn off the light, but he could not help thinking about Pritchard. What if the same thing from last day happens again? Maybe that was the reason why Pritchard didn’t want to leave. Adam gave him a gun, but maybe he hadn’t brought it with him that day. Perhaps the best option was to take a look at the tech lab, most likely the tech had ignored him and kept working.

Lights off, door locked and there was no trace of his motorcycle. Of course, he had gone home. What were the chances that he was injured? Very few. If Adam called him and he was fine, Pritchard was going to be insufferable for several weeks. He discarded the idea of his head and decided to recover the damn chip.

The police station was quite far from Sarif HQ. The walk was nice, though. It gave him time to clear his mind and to smoke a couple of cigarettes. He had to deal with Wayne Haas, his former colleague who reminded him of what happen in Mexicantown. Luckily, this time he had a social implant as his ally and helped him bypass social formalities.

Going down to the morgue and retrieving the chip was quite simple. Now, he only had to go carefully to his house and leave it in a place where it could not be damaged, as he promised Pritchard. However, when he came out he saw something that triggered all his internal alarms: a gang member in a black and orange leather jacket. Unconsciously he called Pritchard's infolink as he approached the man stealthily

               - Where are you?

               - What I've heard is genuine concern? And here I am, thinking that recovering a chip was a trivial mission. - Pritchard's tone was so sharp that he could almost feel his frown across the infolink.

A silence on the line caused Adam to swallow. Upon discovering that the jacket had no orange, but reddish tones. It was too late, he had taken a long walk through the Ballers territory and had already contacted Pritchard. Of course, the tech was in a bad mood.

               - Listen, if you thought to go to your apartment to leave that ... you can introduce the chip in your computer, I will monitor it from here and…

               - Do you have access to my personal computer? This is what I needed to hear. If you want to monitor something, move your ass to my apartment on your own. Jensen out.

Adam cut off the communication and go home.

 

Pritchard knocked on Adam's apartment, the door opened to show a man quite angry since his last argument. The tech decided to walk down the hallway leading to his bedroom and sit in front of the computer that was already turned on.

               - You haven’t slept.

               - You neither.

               - I have an aug that repairs the physical damages and you don’t.

Several windows appeared on the screen and Pritchard's hand moved through the keyboard so quickly that it was impossible to see what he was pulsing at every moment; his fingers were performing a dance and the keyboard was his stage. The mechanical melody would be enough to abstract anybody of his work, but that that was not distracting Pritchard. One last press and he had to wait for the computer to allow him to continue. He decided to explore the table without drawing much attention. Adam had some pictures on his desk that he didn’t see the last day because he was too busy dealing with his own drunkenness, Adam’s smile seemed very sincere. The tech almost forgot the original color of his non-augmented eyes: blue, like his own. His old look had so much character... now he was always hiding behind those new lenses, it gave him an intimidating aura.

                - Here you have it - he said depositing a small chip on a mountain of papers.

Pritchard picked it up, but his eyes wandered to the papers. Without thinking too much, he went to see what he had written and to his surprise, he found some geometric figures with scribbled parts, there was more papers with similar content under it. He took the pen that was next to him to draw a new figure and shadow small sections. Adam approached to see that he was solving the problem he had been dealing with for several weeks.

               - This should fix that error. The next time you get stuck in something like that, let me know. It is difficult to realize these things when you are learning the basics.

               - I… thanks.

The terminal finished processing the previous orders and, despite not looking at the computer screen, Pritchard turned around to continue working. It seemed that he had memorized the time it would take to process all the information. He introduced the chip and continued with his particular mechanical dance, each new command made his eyes open more and more.

               - Jensen, this does not contain the DNA of your hacker, this is the information that he wanted to rob us before ... My God, Jensen. It’s modified and allows another hacker to control it remotely from another location. It literally turns you into a human proxy.

               - Can you find the other hacker?

               - His information is very well hidden behind several satellites, I can only triangulate its position in a fairly wide area.

After a few emails and information dumps, Pritchard removed the chip from the computer.

               - Well, you have already done what you wanted with that pileup, now... - Adam stands up and pointed to the bed - since I can’t send you home because you will not listen to me, you will sleep here.

 

Prichard flashed a wry smile that faded from his face when he realized he is being serious.

               - Oh, it's not a joke.

               - Have you looked in the mirror lately, Pritchard?

Adam sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for a sarcastic comment from the tech and a slam of the door as he left the room. However, Pritchard stared at the static computer screen, with no intention of making eye contact.

               - this is because of the other day, right? It’s nothing that requires your attention.

               - At least let me drive you home

The tech looked out the window, the rain made it impossible to get back on a motorcycle and a two-hour walk in the rain to his house didn’t sound pleasant. He would’t arrive before nightfall.

               - Okay, you win. I stay.

He got up to go to the bathroom, look for the case of his glasses in the leather jacket and remove the contact lenses. It was a very complicated task considering how dry his eyes were and the broken mirror, but he managed to finish his task successfully. When he returned to the room, Adam was so astonished that his glasses contracted in an involuntary movement, his eyes seemed much more blue now.

               - I'm staying with the condition of not eating Chinese food this time. This would be the fourth time this week for me. Can I cook something to save us a few bucks? Do you have something decent in the kitchen?

               - All these close calls I've had, only to be taken out by dinner. Can it be at least be quick and painless?

               - You can’t create poison based on cereals and beer.

               - I don't know if I'll have much more, I'm not too long at home. Let's see.

Pritchard placed his leather jacket on the seat and followed the other man to the kitchen, opening several drawers and collecting very basic ingredients: an onion, some cheese, some flour, a bottle of milk and three chicken legs. The tech started cooking, Adam took out a cigarette and leaned against the far wall to observe him with a half-smile, but before turning it on, Pritchard snatched the lighter and threw it on the sofa.

               - If you want to smoke, do it far away from here. You're going to spoil what we have.

               - You are in charge, chef. I help you with something?

               - No, cleaning the mechanism of your hands doesn’t look like something that is done in two minutes. You can stay there as long as you don’t get in the way or smoke.

The only thing he got in response was a military salute and a half smile.

In a few minutes, the apartment began to be flooded with a pleasant fragrance. Adam took advantage of the fact that Pritchard was busy looking for the oven and sidled up to put a finger in the pan and attack the sauce, tasted as good as it smelled. Then, he came down the stairs and cleared part of the desk that was next to the window to set the table, placed two glasses and filled them with wine. The last night Pritchard had spent at home he had discovered that alcohol made the other man's presence less awkward. The tech approached with a pan that smelled great, served its contents on the two plates and sat next to Adam.

               - _bon appétit_ \- he said giving a drink to his wine.

They ate and drank in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable. The rain was loud, the people who were outside were going to have a hard time going home, but inside the apartment a very welcoming atmosphere had been created. All without saying a single word.

               - At first, I hated you with all my strength. You seemed arrogant to me, an asshole and a guy who had only gotten his job for sleeping with Reed. Now you are someone whose presence only causes me a slight discomfort.

               - Wow, Francis. We are getting sentimental here, relax your displays of affection.

A sincere smile flooded Pritchard's face, his features softened considerably. Adam tried to remember another situation like this one to discover that he had never seen him like this: his ponytail almost completely undone, his arm resting on the back of the chair, glasses, a smile on his face and a slight blush caused by alcohol.

               - I have always been struck by the way you speak to me. Before, I could reduce you in a matter of a couple of minutes, but now I could kill you with a wave of my hand. To be such a puny guy, you do not mind facing a verbal fight with anyone and deep down I like that about you. People look at me as if they were afraid, at least I inspire you another emotion, even if it's disgusting.

               - You don’t intimidate me, you wouldn’t harm a civilian. I know what happened in Mexicantown and I have to say that... I like to know that our hired thug has a hint of humanity.

Both men were silent again, this time either wasn’t uncomfortable. Adam looked at the tech who was watching out the window and surprised himself by finding someone else's company nice in his big apartment. Why go home if he was going to find it empty? Pritchard was a good cook and a great company tonight, but he would never say it out loud.

               - do we see something on TV to get sleepy? - Adam said when he got up.

Pritchard didn’t answer but got up from the chair intending to sit on the sofa as well. Again, he forgot all the alcohol he had drunk, and his head suffered a blow. He walked awkwardly towards the sofa and unbalanced by sitting on his own legs, causing him to end up with his head resting on Adam’ chest and the glasses on the floor. The tech leaned on the sofa to try to sit up, but when he raised his head, he found himself with aug eyes that stared at him, without lenses on the way. Probably the next morning he did not remember how he leaned forward, looking for Adam's lips. More than a kiss, it could be considered a caress.

When they separated, they looked each other again. Adam searched for answers in the man's eyes, but all he found was an ocean full of emotions so intense that he let himself go and placed one hand on the tech's neck and the other on his waist. He stroked his hair gently and drew him back to his lips. He felt trembling hands on his neck, caressing him with a mixture of passion and nervousness trying to avoid all metal areas. Pritchard's lips were soft and let out little sighs broken by the alcohol or a frenzy that was being perfectly controlled.

When he separated again, the tech looked away. Adam turned Pritchard's head with a single movement of his hand to see a tear fall down his cheek. In an impulse, he pulled his waist to bring him closer and placed a kiss on the trail.

He wanted to sail in the ocean of his gaze one last time and ended up shipwrecked by a storm of words that were never uttered. Pritchard didn’t have the best technique, but without a doubt that was the best kiss of his life. For a moment he could feel how someone embraced his soul without saying a single word.


	3. A place to call home.

The cafeteria was very noisy. This was the perfect environment to eat surrounded by people, but without being really accompanied. The memory of Frank Pritchard left a bittersweet taste. A whole day has passed since that night and the man didn’t seem to show signs of remembering anything of what happened. However, he had had to deal with a bed soaked in Pritchard's scent and a tangle of feelings that were about to drown him.

            - Jensen?

Adam didn’t need to look up to see who was the person next to him, apparently, choosing the place next to Sarif HQ wasn’t a good option.

            - I never thought that someone like you enjoyed the company of other humans.

            - I don’t do. The coffee machine in the break room is broken, remember? I need some caffeine to keep up with this shitty day. What are you doing here?

            - You fucked me up the day you cooked at my house. Everything that I prepare is mediocre. Sit if you want, drink while standing is not pleasant.

Pritchard sat down in front of Adam with a wry smile. Back supported on the wall, arm hanging by the back of the chair and no visual contact with the aug. What he liked best about this man's company is that they could both be immersed in their thoughts without having to fill in the silences with words that meant nothing.

Without realizing it, they shared the table throughout the meal with their minds occupied in other matters.

            - Curiosity is killing me. Where did you learn to cook?

            - It's a long story full of drama, Jensen. I need to drink so much to let my mind access those memories.

            - I invite you to a beer, I can’t life without knowing that story.

            - I've been drunk five times in all my life and the last two have been with you. It's too early to end up staggering around the corners, Jensen. Some of us must go home driving, give me a break.

            - time shows no mercy. Huh, Pritchard?

            - You're only two years younger than me, asshole - he said with a broad smile, but after a few seconds his expression became much more serious. Both eyes met for a moment. The aug decided to retract his lenses and Pritchard removed again his gaze by placing a lock of hair behind his ear. - Adam ... I know you have a good heart and I also know that someone like you does not need cheap advice, but I'm going to tell you anyway: Be careful out there, but do not become someone like me. I return to work, I must finish the damn analysis. 

Pritchard released all his speech at once. It seemed that if he stopped to catch air, courage would escape from his mouth, like he had been memorizing it for a while. Without waiting for an answer, he left his coffee cup on the bar and left the cafeteria. Leaving Adam deep in his own thoughts.

The tone of the tech's voice, his expression and the context made Adam think that something had happened in his absence. Pritchard wanted to tell him, but he couldn’t do it for some reason. Fear? Adam dismissed that idea from the head with a wry smile, that man had a very sharp tongue and it wasn’t stop for anyone. Fear wasn’t the answer he was looking for. Blackmail? Unlikely. Guilt? If someone asked the same question two weeks ago, he would said that Pritchard hadn’t a shred of humanity, he spoke to other people with contempt and only when the situation is absolutely desperate. However, he had begun to change his mind. On the surface, Pritchard looked like a real moron who cared only about his own affairs. However, he remembered the first words that he dedicated when he returned from the first mission after his lethargy "Well, well. If it isn’t Attila the Hun, fresh from the killing fields". He tried to fight against it with all his might, but the truth is that the man cared about other people. Even if those people were evil, he did not want anyone to suffer.

Adam got up, pay the bill on the table and headed towards Sarif HQ, he needed to watch the recordings of the security cameras that were taken in his absence. What happened while he was in an induced coma?

* * *

 

Pritchard had to double check what the computer screen showed him to make sure it was true: Sarif had created a hole in the network and used it to filter information. The data that was entered in the database of the company made his head blown. Frank’s fingers tuned the infolink frequency of the security chief.

A memory of the day he had dinner with Adam hit his head: one hand stroking his hair, the other on his waist and a kiss. A kiss. The phone slipped between his hands and hit the ground hard.

            - What is it this time, Pritchard?

Pritchard shook his head to clear his ideas and pulled the cable to grab the telephone receiver. He began to remember more events; his lips were rough, and the beard pricked his cheek.

            - Adam... We need to talk.

            - We're talking, Francis.

Who started the kiss? Was he? Was Adam? Jesus Christ, alcohol affected him too much.

            - I've ... I've found a gap in our network. One that Sarif opened on purpose and didn’t tell us for some reason that my head can’t understand, he did before hiring you. Before you open your mouth to say something meaningless: yes, I've double checked. There is a small chance that the people who attacked the company in the first place would have proof of that data. Maybe they will use them against us in some future.

            - What data?

Pritchard sighed. he didn’t want to face Adam, but the man deserved know this mountain of shit in a less cold way.

            - I don’t want to keep this conversation over the phone, Jensen - The silence on the other end of the line forced him to give an explanation - My apartment is a safe place.

            - I don’t have my car here, Francis. Besides, I don’t even know where you live.

            - Wait for me at the front door, I'll be there in five minutes.

 

Adam found him leaning on the motorcycle, with one helmet in his hand and the mobile phone on the other. When Pritchard saw him, he pressed a button on the handlebar of the motorcycle and opened a small compartment that could serve as a second seat. He offered Adam a helmet, rode the bike and pulled the zipper on his leather jacket. Adam opened his mouth to protest but ended up sitting behind the man.

            - If you want to avoid falling, you must grab something. The back is full of places which you can cling - informed the tech putting a key in the contact.

The motorcycle began to move freely, barely made noise and was very effective skipping all the traffic jams that occurred at that time. Upon reaching an area without traffic, the driver accelerated. With the speed, the motorcycle made much more aggressive turns and Adam ended up sticking his fingers in Pritchard’s waist in a reflex to avoid falling, without realizing that his hands were going to cause much more havoc. Pritchard caught the subtle hint and slowed, which caused a whistle from the car that overtook him.

            - I almost hit your boyfriend, you moron!

That simple phrase caught him so unprepared that he said nothing in response. After several minutes, the word still echoed in his head. He barely noticed Adam's metal grip.

 

It didn't take long for them to get to Pritchard's apartment. The door opened to give way to a small entrance with three doors, one of them had a security code and a lock to be able to open.

            - Leave your coat in the bedroom while I open this - said pointing to the door that was on the right.

Both men stared at each other for a few seconds and Adam realized that he was not going to type the code until he left the area. With a half-smile he entered the bedroom. The room was quite small, it was not barely decorated and only had the strictly necessary furniture: a single bed, a wardrobe and a bedside table. A pair of pajama pants and a white T-shirt lay on the bed. Adam added his coat to the clothes and went out again to find the door open.

            - What are you hiding in here, Pritchard? The corpses of your enemies?

            - I don’t hide anything. I was a black hat for a long time, some habits are difficult to change. This is not why I brought you here. I’ve made an info dump, you can see for yourself everything I’ve found. - Adam advanced and sat down in front of the computer, but Pritchard did not raise his hand from the mouse - I must tell you that they are things from your past, very serious things. I don’t know if you want to see it, but...

            - Let me get to the bottom of this or don’t leave me at all.  Stop teasing.

The tech walked away and leave him alone with his own misery. White helix, his biological parents, Megan, Patient X ... After several hours of absolute silence, Adam got up from his chair, opened the front door and left with a loud bang. He didn’t even remember to pick up his coat before leaving.

 

Someone knocked on the door of the apartment, Adam opened the door to meet Pritchard. The man in question carried a couple of bags in his hands and was avoiding making eye contact with the aug.

            - You left your coat in my apartment - he said offering one of the bags. Adam snatched it from his hands and threw it on the floor – By accident, I read more information than I should in those data and I have read things that you might not want to share, I'm sorry.

Adam shrugged and sat on the sofa without closing the front door. Pritchard came in and closed the door. The first thing that struck him was all the cardboard boxes filled with hard drives, the labels indicated that they contained the security recordings on the date that Adam was in an induced coma. Taking advantage of the fact that the aug was sitting on his back, he take a quick look at the screen of his computer. The computer' screen has a paused video of Sarif and Pritchard apparently arguing in front of the stretcher where Jensen was unconscious. The tech held his breath: more things to explain.

            - Do you think Megan was with me because my unique DNA? I don’t know what to think. At the time I preferred to know, now...

            - You're asking for advice on relationships to the wrong person, Jensen - Pritchard left the other bag in the kitchen.

            - And who else am I going to ask? There are only three people who know this story: Sarif, the person in charge of hiding all this information deliberately, Megan, who established a personal relationship with me for my DNA and you, who have learned all this by chance.

            - I found out by accident because I did an analysis on the network, but anyone who has done the same as me, may have obtained the same information. I’ve revealed all this because nobody has been sincere with you in a long time and you deserve that. It seems like people forgets that under all these expensive augs, there is a human being capable of feeling. As the company's head of security, it’s also a fact that you should consider.

Adam looked at him. His face maintained its classic arrogant grimace, but his look told another story very different. That was the first time anyone referred to him as a "human being" after the surgery. He confirmed what he knows: Pritchard wasn’t a bad person.

            - Of all the people, I never thought that you were going to be the one to show your face for me when I couldn’t. I thought you have been up this company long enough to know you don’t go head-to-head with the boss.

Pritchard took a little walk around the living room and ended up sitting on the couch next to Adam. Reading a portion of Adam's past was something that happened involuntarily, he wasn’t visibly angry about it. However, the weight of the guilt he carried on his shoulders was not lightened. He felt that he had invaded Adam's privacy without his permission and that wasn’t good at all, the only way he could think of amending his mistake was by sharing another painful piece of his past.

            - It's just ... what happened to you brought me memories of the past and I didn’t want history to repeat itself. Remember when you asked me where I learned to cook? Well... long story short, it was in jail. - Adam bent his head. - Spare me your puppy eyes, I know you know it.

            - You mentioned something about being a black hat in your apartment. That's why you were locked up? They caught you?

Adam took care of his tone, but still couldn't help but sound surprised. He had seen the tech in action and found it very difficult to believe that this was the real reason. Pritchard shook his head.

            - Yes and no. We were three hackers, but we needed the support of another person to access the non-tech parts of the network: turn on switches, open doors and those things… Someone who didn’t ask many questions and carry out orders without questioning anything. If the situation got complicated, our plan was to vanish off the face of the earth and blame the guy. If necessary, death would hide our trace. The day arrived and the task of letting him die to prevent the transmission of some data that could be used to find our locations, fell on me. All I had to do was seal a security lock and raise the alarm in the building, but I didn't. Not everyone agreed with my decision and, although I managed to encrypt the data that was transmitted, they decided to sell me to the police. They locked me in the Detroit state prison.

Pritchard's voice broke when he uttered the last words. Adam had heard all sorts of stories about that prison, the wardens did not pay attention to the prisoners and those who were locked in solitary confinement used to be deprived of food and drink for days to end up being beaten by the guards themselves. After a few minutes of silence, the tech decided to keep talking.

            - My only crime was being a stupid brat who trusted too much in those who didn’t deserve it. I could let the cat out of the bag, saved my ass and ruin their lives, but I was loyal to the end. They knew it, that's why they did it. When I found out that Sarif put you more augs than necessary and that everyone was ok with that. I don’t know... I thought I had to do something, even if that "something" was to argue with the boss like a madman.

            - I know, Frank. You couldn’t do much, but know what you think all this ... Can you believe that you are the first person who refers to me as a "human being" in more than six or seven months?

Of course, Adam had chosen that moment to call him "Frank". He had had more than several years to do it, but this was the perfect time. A quick glance at the table was enough to see several empty beer bottles and a couple of whiskey bottles stacked in the background. It didn’t take him long to guess that the man was trying to get drunk, but his augs were stopping him. Without another word, Pritchard got up from his seat and go to the kitchen. He couldn’t leave Adam in that state.

             - You’ve told me all this without thinking twice and I have been hiding something. The other day, when we had dinner ... - he began to rise without getting up off the couch, his eyes fixed on the bottom of an empty glass of whiskey that held his right hand.

            - Before calling you I remembered the main facts, it isn’t necessary that you put me to the day - Frank began to cut the onion in strips, trying to move away his mind of that night.

The images that the computer showed him several minutes ago reproduced in his head. Francis Pritchard had gone to visit the hospital each and every day he was in an induced coma. The tech didn’t do much in the room, just looked at him for a few minutes with an expression that could break the heart of the most insensitive, sighed and left. The hospital wasn’t near Sarif HQ or his apartment, he was going to visit him on purpose. In fact, he was the only person who had done it during all that time.

            - Will you stay for dinner today? I think they have one of those futuristic films, we can criticize it.

            - I'll make dinner for two - Frank found himself smiling at the prospect of sharing a bit of time with him.

Adam got up from the couch and headed towards the kitchen. Pritchard was trying to reach a bowl that was located on the top of a shelf, his sweater had risen and showed two bruises on both sides of his hip. The aug can’t help but approaching and caressing the bruised skin, causing Pritchard to flinch. The light touch ended up turning into a hug. He knew that it was absurd to want to protect him from something that was already done, but he felt that it was what he had to do. The hair of his ponytail was so soft that it was tickling when he brushed his cheeks. The smell he gave off reminded him of the aroma of the pillow. He would never admit it out loud, but he didn't want to separate from the warm hug.

It felt strange to see a man like Adam being so vulnerable. However, Pritchard turned to return the hug. Noticing the increased breathing in his neck was pleasant. Somehow, he could sense that hug was helping to unite all the pieces of a heart that he already thought would always be broken. It felt that he was finally home.

            - It was my fault, I always go alone on the bike and when I get to the outskirts I like to speed up to the speed limit, it shouldn't be a pleasant experience for the person in the back seat. I'm sorry.

Adam freed him from his contact so that he could continue with his tasks and decided to go to set the table in silence. Just like the other night.


	4. You're worrying too much about it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is hard to trust another person when everyone has tried to betray you. Despite how hard they try to avoid it, our protagonists go forward in their relationship.

Adam put out his hand to turn off the alarm on his cell phone. The day has not yet dawned, but he had to get going. When he got up from the chair where he had been prostrated all night, his muscles suffered. A shower with hot water would wake him up completely.

The broken mirror had no mercy and returned pieces of his new face as he passed in front of it. The reflection showed him a face that he hated with all his strength and there was nothing he could do to change it. His augmented legs collided with the pottery of the shower making that characteristic noise that he has also begun to hate. How much metal could a single person carry to stop being human? He had nothing to remind him of his previous body, as if the real Adam Jensen had died the day of the attack and had been replaced by a machine without feelings.

A long time ago he enjoyed that little personal moment in the bathroom, now he was starting to hate it. The water seeped through the gears of his augs and should be cleaned for a long time. The doctors told him that it was not necessary, but the water didn’t feel comfortable in those areas. He dressed in clean clothes and approached the bedroom with the intention of awakening Pritchard.

The tech was leaning on one side with one arm tucked under the pillow. Part of his hair fell down a face that had an expression of peace. Adam decided to wake him up with a soft caress on the head, the purr that he received in response made him smile.

               - Good morning, sleeping beauty.

               - If you call me "beauty" in this tone again, forget about using any device that has a screen in this apartment. I'll screw up every and single one of them. By the way, how the hell did I end up in your bed? I remember lying on the couch - said while yawning. Then he stretched out his arms and finally opened his eyes.

Adam had seen him wake up a couple of times, but they were enough to know that he never did it in a good mood. He decided to go to the kitchen to make some coffee, Pritchard joined him shortly after.

               - I took you to bed when you fell asleep. By the way, you should start eating something more, carrying with you was like carrying a plate full of grapes.

Frank muttered inaudible words that would probably be an insult to him and picked up the cup.

               - you seem a little tense, Francis - the look that returned the tech made him sketch a funny smile - What? I haven’t called you "beauty".

Frank stood up with a scowl and sat down at the table in front of the window, little by little his attention was diverted to the papers and books that lay on the table. Several manuals on cybersecurity brand new with notes to the edges and endless sheets scrawled with schemes of the most basic network distributions. Some of them were used to go through the firewalls that had most of the devices that needed an activation by electromagnetic pulse, that could only mean one thing: Adam was trying to learn how to disable robots and turrets. He imagined Adam approaching one of those robots as big as a two-story building and he felt a chill. Thanks to one of the security cameras he could see clearly how they grabbed him by the neck and threw him against a wall so that he would be buried under a pillar of rubble and glass. The shot of a pistol aimed at his head... Those memories were still too recent, and Adam was determined to revive them.

               - You prepare to delve into the location I got from the suicidal hacker. Are you sure that's what you want to do?  I could see a blurry image from the security cameras of those guys, Jensen. They are so augmented that they looked like killing machines in a combat gear of the highest quality and you are one person. I’ll do everything I can to help you, but what you need is another tough guy. I can’t do much behind a screen.

Jensen looked away, he didn’t need to answer that question and Frank knew what the answer was. Those bastards stole their DNA and murdered defenseless people. The scientists weren’t doing things right, but they didn’t have to pay with their lives. Maybe he would die trying, but he wanted to take one of those bastards to hell with him. However, he knew he couldn’t say that to Frank, he didn’t want to hurt him more.

               - You are still unable to take the plunge. The Ballers have in their territory an antenna which emits a transmission that endangers the security of the company. I guess that's how our suicide hacker was able to access the plant. Sarif is supposed to have already talked to you about this.

               - He did. I'll fix this and then, like it or not, I'm going to investigate that location you talked about. Anyway, it’s assumed that issuing reports on cybersecurity and letting me know when necessary is your job. Since when has Sarif occupied that position?

               - Since I do not want to hear how anxious you are to get fully involved in a suicide mission.

Adam took a few seconds to process what he had just heard. Frank withdrew the eye contact without saying anything else. The words were not necessary to describe the anguish of his face. Adam approached the man, grabbed one of his hands and pulled gently from him to end up melting into a hug. Somehow, that moment reminded him of all the times he hugs Megan.

This was something totally different. It wasn’t the simple touch, it was something else: Waking up and making two cups of coffee, coming home wanting to dine and watch a shabby movie, the long silences full of increasingly passionate looks and the small sarcastic comments that no longer had intentions to hurt.

The hug was lasting much longer than it should, but neither retired. A tingle ran through his belly, something deeper and more intimate than what he had ever had with Megan.

Meg. So many memories came to his head at once. How far could a person go to get what she wanted? If he had not seen it, he would never have believed that the longest relationship of his life was a farce. If someone had told him that he would now be looking for the contact of the person who had irritated him the most in recent years, he would not have believed it either.

               - For which you love most, Adam... be careful. We've already lost too many people in that damn attack and I don’t know if I can bear adding another name to the list. Please, be careful. - He said with a thin voice.

               - Those people didn’t have the invaluable help of a sassy tech. - Frank gave him a forced smile and freed him from the hug to continue drinking his coffee. He tucked a lock of hair behind his ear - I have some business to take care of before I go to the office. Take your breakfast easy, take a warm shower and choose something from my closet to put on some clean clothes.

Pritchard didn’t say anything, and Adam went to collect the dirty dishes on the table where the man had retired for breakfast. When he picked up a glass, he squeezed it with great force without realizing it that it shattered with his mechanical hand. Frank soon grabbed his mechanic hand and, without making any comment, took out the few crystals that had slipped through the metal cracks using some tools found scattered on the table. However, his face didn’t show any sign of pity or fear and that comforted Adam much more than he had ever imagined.

               - You're the only one who doesn’t look at me with fear from the operation. Maybe with a little scorn, but I do not feel special. I think that's the way you look at everyone by default.

The tech sighed. Maybe that was a comment made specially to upset him, but it wasn’t so far from reality. To distance oneself from the whole world was something very easy, the complicated thing was to let someone enter their personal space and hope that it was not going to turn everything upside down. Somehow, Adam was starting to cross that space and he would lie if he didn’t say he was a little scared.

               - They are afraid of your lack of fashion sense. It has nothing to do with your hands.

               - And that’s from someone who is wearing an orange leather jacket.

               - Black, orange and white. It was a gift, it fits me, and I don’t want to buy another one.

               - Your girlfriend? - The words came out of his mouth long before he could think about saying it. He had never thought about that possibility and now he feared the answer.

               - Smooth, Jensen - Frank said looking at him for a few moments with a wide smile. Then, returned to focus his attention on the augmented hand - Neither the person who gave me the jacket was my girlfriend nor I have a partner.

 

Adam had toured the streets of Detroit several times to do a favor for a former co-worker who was not able to solve a case on his own. Something about a corrupt guy who wanted to start a gang war. They had to catch him on the spot and for that purpose he should pretend to be a contract killer willing to follow the orders of the corrupt guy: kill someone with a very specific weapon. But what he really should do is give the weapon to Alexandra. Then, find the Ballers' weapons hideout. Going into Baller territory undetected sounded a lot easier to say than done, and for that he would need Pritchard's help. Luckily, he had to deactivate an antenna in the area, so he would leave that task to the end.

On a short break from his interminable walk, Adam decided to sit on a bench and smoke a cigarette. When he finished, he got up and put his hands on his belt to settle the gun. Instead, he heard a strange noise that left him completely frozen: someone had put something on his coat. He fumbled in his pockets until he found a very small paper bag with a note stained with sauce:

_"You're a hypocrite. Why do you make me bitter in the mornings by telling me to take something for breakfast if you don’t deign to take something decent? I hope this package scared you enough to start preaching by example. F."_

The aug looked inside the bag to find an energetic bar and a sandwich. He returned to sit on the bench and devoured lunch with a broad smile. The sauce had ruined much of the bread - Probably, Frank did it the night before - and, despite that, it still tasted delicious. There were no bins nearby, so he had no choice but to keep the bag in his pocket again.

It didn’t take long to continue with his to-do list. First, he had to pick up the murder weapon: a crossbow. Then, he sneaked into the apartment of the corrupt guy to find something to incriminate him. After several minutes searching he managed to find a couple of cocaine packages.

To avoid carrying two kilos of cocaine and a very elegant but extremely useless weapon all over Detroit, he decided to stop at his apartment and lighten his weight. It had not taken him long to do all these errands, maybe Frank had not left yet.

 

Adam entered the apartment. He soon realized that Pritchard had scrubbed all the dirty dishes around the house and collected all the broken glass, as well as several empty cereal boxes. He would have to find a way to thank him for taking the trouble.

He walked calmly to the bedroom and found the man with his back towards the door. He was stirring in his closet with a towel around his waist, his body was completely wet, and he had left a small puddle of water at his feet. His skin tone was so pale that it highlighted perfectly the increasingly blurred bruises of his waist. But what struck him most were all the scars that covered his body. How had he managed to do so many? Some of them seemed very deep, almost as much as the wounds that were in the middle of a healing process on his leg. He had to take a good hit the day he found him lying on the ground.

Frank ended up choosing a black sweater, placed it on his torso to check that it could sit well and turned to find Adam. He gasped and hid behind the closet door.

               - Relax, Francis. I will not see anything that could scare me. - Adam opened one of the drawers in his closet and left clean underpants on the bed

               - You ass!

               - No, you ass. Look what you have done to my wardrobe, now I’ll have to put everything back. If you hurry, I'll drive you to the office. Anyway ... - he slightly half-turned his head and placed the lenses over his eyes - you should know better than anyone that I can see through solid objects.

The aug closed the door after leaving the room and Frank came out of his hideout. He passed the towel through the wettest parts of his body and threw it on the floor. Little by little he dressed in the clothes he had selected from the closet, tied his hair in a ponytail and went to the living room to find Adam reading a book. Both men left through the front door and headed towards the garage. Almost all the other cars were not in their place, it was much later than usual, and everyone was going to work.

It did not take them long to realize that it would take a lot longer to drive to work than if they had been walking, the traffic jams occupied entire streets.

               - This suck... I can drive you to somewhere special, back in a couple of hours and tell Sarif that we found a traffic jam. It would not be a lie and instead of wasting time in a car, it would give us a little relaxing time.

               - It doesn’t seem like a bad idea, but... Do you know how to drive a car?

               - what? Of course I know how to drive a car! Do you think I'm an imbecile? Come on, get out at once - He said pushing him several times to make him abandon the vehicle.

Frank waited for a detour on the road to get past the traffic jam while he tapped the radio melody on the steering wheel with his fingers. Adam didn't want to ask questions when he saw the sign that shows they had left the city.

               - It’s incredible. It doesn’t surprise you the amount of things that I have had to do all this time to save your stupid ass: erase your location in real time, turn off alarms that you activate by not being discreet, open doors remotely, disable turrets without seeing the code of security... and what really has impressed you is that I know how to drive. You are so annoying, Jensen. I'm sure you have a list of all the things you can do to infuriate me.

               - Drive you crazy don’t take much talent, Francis.

The tech decided to keep silent before that show of provocation, there was little left to get to his destination and he didn’t want to be in a bad mood.

* * *

 

Pritchard set the parking brake, got out of the car and sat on the hood, hugging his legs. He seemed to be enjoying the breeze that waved his ponytail. The landscape was completely spectacular; the city looked so small from that distance that it seemed that there was no problem so important as to worry.

               - My life has not been easy. When I feel everything is about to overflow me, I come here and let the landscape and the few beautiful memories I have do the rest. You also have many stories to tell and I know you're not having a good time either. I have never known how to relate to other people, I haven't cared for anyone since... God... so long. However, I want to help you, but I don’t know how to do it - Frank gave a forced smile - I must look pathetic and I don’t blame you. A guy in his mid-thirties saying these bullshit...

Adam wanted to say something to him, but the man seemed so vulnerable that any word he said would break him in two. They could see the whole city from that height, the big traffic jams and the people running from one place to another. From that height they could only hear the song of the birds that fluttered around. The sound caught Adam's attention and he decided to take out the paper bag that once contained the sandwich and empty it at his feet to spread all the crumbs. Then, he sat down beside Pritchard, put his arm around her shoulders and pressed him against his body. The birds soon came down to feast with all the crumbs. They both looked at the animals like they were mesmerized with their beauty, trying to find out how long they had been without enjoying a little moment that inspired so much tranquility and peace.

               - You didn’t use your augmented vision on me this morning, right? I mean... it takes a lot of energy and would be very irresponsible. Also, that would be abusing your own condition and it would be morally reprehensible.

               - If what you're babbling is a kind of excuse to see me naked, right now we're not in the right place. Come back to ask me the same question tonight, maybe I’ll be on the mood. - Adam said with a soft smile, trying to break the atmosphere that had been created.

Frank opened his mouth to answer, but instead his face flushed. A lot of thoughts piled up in his head and he couldn’t select any suitable answer. For many days he had been reluctant to admit that he enjoyed Adam's company, but today he crossed the line wearing his underwear with the intention of going to work. He definitely was beginning to like to spend his spare time with the man and was relieved when he was close to him, somehow both avoided falling into their vices when they were together. He was starting to reduce his caffeine pills because now he used the nights to sleep peacefully, his anxiety was starting to disappear, and he didn’t need to smoke two cigarettes each hour. This was some kind of relationship that was beyond "coworkers." This was the first day in seven years that he was late to the tech lab, he usually arrives a couple of hours before his turn started. Somehow, he no longer needed to take refuge in work, he found a new place to hide from himself: Adam's house.

The tech felt a punch in his stomach. This wasn’t the first time a person woke up these feelings, but he didn’t need to guess how the story would end. To avoid breaking a heart that was already reduced to ashes, decided to nip the problem in the bud.

               - Jensen, what are we? - he snapped. Without realizing it he did it in the cynical tone he used to talk to everyone, waiting for a similar response.

               - I do not know. The only thing I know for sure is that I enjoy your company and I think you also enjoy mine. Do we need to name this?

               - We do not need to put any name, but the fact of not having it causes one of the two of us to flee without giving any explanation. Maybe you discover that you don’t want to spend time with a person who can’t give you anything, maybe I want to leave before you can realize it. Also, in the office people are going to talk... if they are not already doing it. I can bear to say shit about me, I'm more than accustomed, but I don’t know if I'll be able to listen anything about you. People love to make comparisons, they'll soon say something about Reed and ...

               - Stop thinking so much and so fast, you can’t rationalize your own feelings. Things are much simpler than all this, just... act and stop thinking so much. Be more impulsive, damn it.

The words fulfilled the same purpose as a switch. Frank turned around, grabbed Adam's head in his hands and kissed him. The gesture caught Adam so unprepared that they both ended up crashing on the hood of the car.

What started as an impulsive act ended up becoming a moment full of passion. Adam pulled on his ponytail to undo it and run the hand for his head. He had not done it before, but now he needed the other man's contact much more than he needs to breath. It didn’t take him long to decide that his favorite sound was Pritchard's nervous giggle drowned out with kisses. Frank put his hands inside his coat looking to caress his back, but he found the armored armor and had to settle for a warm hug and the taste of Adam's lips. He didn't need to open his eyes to know that the man was smiling and that made him stupidly happy.

Fate had a very strange sense of humor, first made them argue daily. Now they were kissing on a car and they both were missing work with a stupid excuse, like they were teenagers again.

The hood of the car made a strange sound that caught his attention, both ended up getting up. Adam inspected the piece of metal for damage while Frank pulled the mobile phone out of his pocket to check the time and avoid facing anything the other man could do or say.

               - I must go to HQ right now. If I leave Sarif unattended for another fifteen minutes, I’ll have to stay several nights in the office to fix the disaster caused. I like to run the tech lab, but sometimes I have the feeling that I am the only competent person in the company.

               - Ouch, Pritchard. It hurts my feelings.

               - Ugh, fine. When you are not a real pain in the ass, you don’t take five hours to do what I ask because you are too busy going around just to get me mad and you don’t get lost in the air ducts… sometimes and only sometimes you are useful. Happy now?

Adam smiled. Coming from Pritchard, that comment was practically a marriage proposal. The rosy tint of his cheeks gave him an adorable look and he didn’t have the heart to respond with his usual tone. Both could have a few hours to sort out their thoughts and, at night, they would talk about what had just happened.

               - With you? Always.


	5. Dealing with feelings.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam must continue his research in Highland Park, but he will need Frank's help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter I’ve experienced a bit and I’ve left my comfort zone: I bring you drama and action. I hope you like reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
> 
> This time I counted on the invaluable help of [thefancypantskid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fancypantskid) she has been a beta reader of this chapter ([here](http://thefancypantskid.tumblr.com/) is her tumblr).

Frank got off the bus with his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and started to walk towards the office, there was a long way to go. He put a cigarette in his mouth. Why did he do something so stupid? A lot of excuses passed through his head, he could simply call Sarif and tell him he was sick, or he could cross his fingers for a truck to hit him hard before reaching his destination. The first time he could blame alcohol, but now both of them were fully aware of their capabilities.

The last time he exposed his feelings in such an absurd way was many years ago, he had almost forgotten the horrible feeling that invaded his body. He didn't regret it then and would not regret it now either. Leastwise he learned a valuable lesson: to stop giving up control of his body for the sake of something as stupid as an emotion. This nonsense had only brought him problems in the past. It would take him a couple of days to get through it, but then he could focus on the only thing that mattered: his job, a job in which he could do whatever he wanted and Sarif paid him well for it. Hopefully, Adam would also pretend that none of this had happened and their lives would be the same again.

He pulled the hair tie that held his ponytail and combed his hands through his hair, having it to cover most of his face. For the first time in a while, his mind was completely blank. He didn't want to face the people passing by on the street. It was the sort of day in which he didn't want to face anything or anyone. He opened the door for the headquarters with the cigarette still in his hand, the memories of Adam preventing him from coherent thoughts.

           - Hey, cowboy. You can’t smoke in here, I thought you had been working here long enough to know the basic rules. None of us should pay the consequences of Sarif having to call your mother.

Frank tensed at those words and soon turned around. He could stand insults, the obsession for the excessive use of physical contact in a normal conversation and even the looks that some people gave him when he passed by, but he was not willing to allow such a insolent girl to mock his deceased mother. The cold stare he gave her was devastating, in that instant Cindy knew she shouldn't have said anything. She tried to apologize, but Frank was faster.

           - Listen, _receptionist_. When you accomplish something else in this building more than answering a couple of calls and fuck with Greg in the server's room, you can give me orders. Until then, keep batting eyelashes at your colleagues while pretending to work. Congratulations for taking so much advantage of those studies in psychology, you have managed to get a ID with your misspelled name written on a counter at the lowest floor.

When he turned his back to the receptionist, he could hear a loud sob. _"Great, got myself another meeting with that stupid Human Resources’ manager and a talk with Sarif"_ . Hopefully, all he would have to do was filling out an absurd questionnaire about good behavior under David’s paternalistic look. He walked away ignoring the dozen glances that followed his route. Before opening the door, he realized that he had crushed the cigarette between his fingers so hard that he ended up extinguishing it. The small burns on his fingers made him struggle for a while with the lock. When he finally managed to unlock it, he opened it with a kick. _"I need to relax. Nobody knows, only Adam and he was not going to tell anyone, right?"_ For this reason he had dedicated all his life to computers, they didn't judge or glare at him when he messed up.

He decided it was time to put aside all of his personal problems and focus on the only thing he knew how to do well: work. The company didn't need an angsty teenager to carry out his duties, he needed to be professional. Henceforth. He wasn't going to apologize to Cindy, it was her fault.

He turned on the computer and, waiting for all the screens to light up, checked up his watch. More good news: He just had arrived five hours late to work, which meant this was going to be a very long night. He closed the Tech lab door and turned off all the lights except the one above his computer. With a bit of luck, the people who passed by would get the hint and leave him alone.

After a few minutes thinking what to do, he decided that it was better to do all the unpleasant things at the same time. He introduced his credentials to supervise the work of his subordinates and found himself in a much higher than usual chaos. Without making any comment, he gradually fixed all the errors that the employees had been reporting, glancing sideways at the screen connected to Adam's lenses. At any moment that man was going to enter Baller territory and he would need his help.

           - Second door, starting from your right - Pritchard's voice sounded strictly professional, he seemed nervous about something. - I do not detect security cameras in the area, but that does not mean they can not have a sniper on the roof. Be careful.

Frank forgot to close his infolink and could be heard breathing hard every time he knocked out one of the Ballers. Adam sighed, in the depths of his being he knew he was behaving like a total moron. The man had asked a very simple and completely justified question, but he wasn’t able to give him an answer. Both were postponing a conversation that should have taken place a long time ago, it was time to stop cowering.

           - Are you doing anything tonight?

           - Jensen, I'd appreciate it if you would pay one hundred percent of your attention to not becoming a colander. We will have all the time in the world to talk when you leave Baller territory, considering you can get out of this.

" _When I get out of here, I'll have to go to the location of the suicide Hacker.”_ He couldn’t say that, but his gut could tell him that Frank knew it. He was not willing to admit it openly, but deep down he appreciated that rare quality: informing Pritchard of the inconveniences that arose in the missions or sending the reports of failures. It was a very easy task, he hardly needed to say anything to him and the man already knew what do, how to do it and the solution took only a few seconds to be reached. However, the ability to learn and read between lines, to condense language to the point of communicating only what is extremely rare or important didn’t come from nowhere. Few people were able to keep up with such demanding task and one of these was Francis Pritchard. How had a nerd gotten deductive skills worthy of a veteran soldier? Adam’s instinct told him that he should check up the police file on the other man, maybe there several of this questions would be answered.

           - Do you always have to sound so dramatic? I'm waiting inside the air duct to knock that guy out. It's a yes or no question.

           - We both have important things to do. I had a personal project to finish, I've been postponing it for a few days and it's about time I stopped fooling around. Plus, _I_ must finish the unfinished work of my subordinates. I doubt I'll finish anything before three or four in the morning anyway. When it's over, I'll stay here to get a head start on work until my next shift begins. Going home is not worth it...

Frank was not upset. Maybe a little disappointed, but Adam couldn't really blame him. He assumed that after the kiss, Frank would have done something, anything. However, he had let Frank go and now he was avoiding a conversation they both should have had a long time ago.

At least now he could focus on the mission at hand. The dead bodies of the ballers were accumulating inside the containers quite quickly. Adam always looked for pacifist solutions in all his missions: nobody had to die if it wasn't extremely necessary. This time things were different, he spent more than two thousand credits on the best silencer for his old gun and prepared himself to do some dirty work. The streets of Detroit would be much safer at night, Alexandra would have it much easier to finish her investigation and Frank would never have to go home again afraid of encountering those bullies. It's a win-win situation.

The lenses were a great help in combat, he gives Sarif that. The problem had more to do with looking in the mirror each morning, staring that piece of metal and trying to convince himself that he was not another hit man. From commander of the SWAT to assistant detective, his day got worse with every passing hour.

It took much less time than expected to get rid of all the Ballers and, thanks to Frank, he was able to quickly find the hidden weapons and the location of the gang's leaders. All that remained for him to do was neutralizing them, and the task in hand would be done. It was a longer day than usual, Adam couldn’t wait to get home and open a bottle of whiskey. Maybe Pritchard could turn off his augs for a few hours if he asked nicely, dealing with the headache of a hangover sounded much better than thinking about this shit.

He ran up the stairs two steps at a time, wanting to finish this as soon as possible. The radar showed him the shadow of five people, probably under the influence of alcohol. He approached the weaker wall of the room and hit it hard with a strong punch. At that point, any second counted: He knocked out the man who noticed his presence, loaded his TESLA shotgun and a simple shot was enough to immobilize the five people in the room. Fast, clean and simple work.

           - Pritchard, I think I ended up here. I just have to inform Alex and take care of something. As soon as I’m done here, I’ll go to my house, replace my ammunition and go to Highland Park. I'll let you know when it's time, have a coffee or something. And, hey... Thanks.

           - Yeah, yeah... I'll be waiting for your call. - The tech expert took a few seconds to reply. He seemed surprised, as if he wasn't used to receiving compliments and wasn't sure of which was the appropriate answer.

Adam heard the closing of the frequency and walked to the alley where Alexandra should be. She rewarded him with a new task: to arrest O'Malley. He also wanted to put that bastard behind bars, a gang war was only going to be useful for the same old people, those who did not give a shit if civilians were caught in the crossfire. One of them could be Frank again. Adam shook his head, not knowing how the man had sneaked back into his thoughts, again.

O'Malley's arrest was as he expected, an attempt at a bribe and, when he refused, the corrupt officer threatened him with a gun. The man wasn’t going to cause any more problems now and the most likely thing is that Alexandra would receive a medal. Besides, maybe one day he could need to past through police bureaucracy and she would be a powerful ally.

Before going to his apartment, he made a stop at the police station to look for Frank's police file. He tried not to make eye contact with Wayne, the less he had to explain, the better. He made a mental note for calling him to catch up, when he came back from Highland Parks. Adam hated those kinds of encounters, but the man had done him a favor and a couple of hours of small talk were not such a bad thing.

Pritchard's file was not even stored under any additional security. It was just another folder, buried deep in a metal drawer. He took it out and hid it under his coat when the security camera was not pointing to his side. He went out through the front door, lit a cigarette and walked to his apartment. Adam talked Pritchard into resting for a while meanwhile he carried out his little investigation, but he knew that the man would monitorize his infolink frequency still. He had never been aware of how much work the tech actually did. Entering gang territory and firing a weapon a couple of times was difficult, but being awake for several days, keeping the same level of concentration all the time and being able to solve all sort of problems that arose unexpectedly, was also a task worth the admiration.

_"Pritchard, Francis Wendell. Cybercrime. Case filed."_ The faded folder trembled in his hands, maybe he was not ready to read it after all.

He sighed. Reading this file in secret was probably something morally reprehensible and Adam kept repeating to himself that his intentions were good. He just wanted to find names and give proper justice for all the damage Frank had to endure. The man was not a saint, Adam was well aware of this, but he also did not deserve to be locked in a high security prison at the whim of a couple of resentful assholes with too many contacts in the police wanting to send a message. Those damn pompous hackers won't have the balls to go against him.

The first page read: _"Pritchard, Francis Wendell: male, 27 years old. Declared guilty of fraud and related activity in connection with access devices and computers"_.

Damn, that could mean anything. The department has always endeavored to preserve an honorable tradition where they let the most useless person of the entire police station write down the report of a case assigned to another officer.

A quick reading of the following pages made him sigh even more. He would never have guessed that Pritchard would be able to withstand the pressure of several interrogations and not sell out his partners-in-crime, those bastards knew what they were doing. The last part of the report mentioned the high security regime without going into details. What happens in prison, stays in prison. Eight months of pure hell. Thank God Frank hasn’t decided to take revenge for all these unfortunate events, because he certainly had all the chances to become a serial killer and, seeing his extreme paranoia and his mania to polish any detail, it would have been difficult caught him red-handed. Adam was completely sure that Pritchard's loyalty was one of the reasons why Sarif decided to pay the half million bail.

He didn't want to continue investigating the document, he was feeling a bit like he already probed enough into something that wasn’t really his business, besides, he already had something to start with: a couple of dirty cops and a warden who has been accused several times of working for those he should have put behind bars instead would have to answer a few questions. A good cop should know that protecting citizens could be done by taking care of the good guys or persecuting the bad ones.

           - Jensen, I do not want to rush you, but Sarif has broken into the tech lab eight times asking for you and I swear to God that if he does that one more time, I'll throw a stapler at his face. Finish at once whatever the hell are you doing and talk to him to leave me alone. By the way, I do not know why everyone in this damn company has the impression that I'm your damn secretary - he punctuated his speech with a sigh, even Frank himself must realize that he was losing his composure - I told Malik to wait for you at the Helipad on the roof of your apartment, so go there when you want to do the job they hired you for.

The line went silent, but Adam could still hear whistle in his infolink. Frank had not hung up, so he was giving the other man time to answer or he was giving himself time to made his usual remark. Adam could picture his desk full of energy bar wrappers and cardboard cups that were once filled with coffee.

           - I'll meet Malik right now and then I'll talk to Sarif. Pritchard, are you okay? Do you need to talk about something?

           - There is no time for personal matters much less when the future of both parts is... uncertain. We'll talk when this whole nightmare ends once and for all.

This time, the tech closed the link. Only Francis Pritchard could use death as an excuse to avoid engaging a conversation. After everything he had discovered about man in the past few days, he could not blame him for behaving like that. Each person had a different way of dealing with emotional pain, some found solace in alcohol or sex and others simply released all their contained rage against anyone who got in their way. Adam rolled his eyes and headed for the helipad.

           - Hey, Fly-Girl, are you in the mood to kick some asses?

           - I'm always in that mood, Spy-Boy. Sorry for coming without warning, but I was afraid that Pritchard's threats would cease to be verbal. By the way, what the hell is going on between you two? Now you only shout at each other a couple of times a day, should I be worried? - Malik looked back to check if the door was closed so she could start the engine - I'm just saying that I don't see him as tense as usual, I think he's happy. I'm happy for him!

           - Pritchard is not that disagreeable. If you scratch the surface a bit you’ll see a good guy who tries too hard to make everyone believe otherwise. - They established eye contact for a few seconds, Malik gave him a wide smile. – But I don't know where you got the happiness thing from. Today he's especially annoying, I've been tempted to go to HQ just to hit him in the face.

           - He's afraid something might happen to you in Highland Park and he's worrying about you in his own way, you fool.

Maybe asking Malik for advice was not a bad idea. In the past they had had trivial conversations about different topics and she would know much better than him how to handle such complicated situations.

           - Sometimes it's very complicated to know what goes on in his head...

           - I know you've been aggravating him, don’t try to deny it, I know you love doing it and others have to pay the consequences. Give him a break and spend some time with him doing something he likes, that's what friends do. Tell him what you told me a few seconds ago. Pritchard sometimes behaves like a true cynic and can be a pain in the ass, but I'm sure he'll appreciate it. Oh, and Adam, do it without getting him mad.

           - Thanks for the advice, Malik. I'll keep it in mind.

Frank brought his eighth cup of coffee of the day to his lips and took a sip as he looked at the screens before him, it was increasingly difficult to ignore the pain he had felt in the middle of his chest all day. He kept repeating to himself over and over again that the only culprit was his terrible sleep schedule, but but in the depths of his being he knew that was not the real reason and he didn't even dare to think about what really was the cause of it. He could never get used to seeing Adam fight with these mercenaries on his own, he was a single person against dozens of them. He could not help but thinking that he would run out of luck someday and Adam would receive a blow that even his state of the art augs couldn't heal.

As soon as the VTOL approached Highland Park, the tech left his coffee on the table and typed with fury. One of his screens showed a 3D map of the building, another was synchronized with Adam's lenses and the last one marked all his vital signs and a small report on the status of his augs. A small search was enough to let him know that the last level was infested with signals that converged with each other. Too good to be true, probably that network traffic was artificially created to distract the few hackers who managed to get through the network's firewall.

           - Pritchard, any idea where to start the search of clues?

           - I would go to the lowest level. There is an elevator that will take you there, you'll find it on the roof where Malik is going to leave you. Anyway, be careful. Whatever they are  keeping in there, it is well protected. They modified the network to keep the real data away, I can not reach them, so I can not give you more information. If you want some help, you will have to disconnect the frequency inhibitor located in the servers. Just turn it off.

           - I have better things to do than help you to help me.

He could not respond to that provocation. Adam had already called the elevator, that meant the frequency would be available only for real emergencies. The security chief’s augs helped him in combat and Frank’s presence was becoming more and more expendable in these missions. Adam had experience handling all this kind of situations on his own, knew how to solve them with great efficiency and if something really bad happened, Frank was very aware that he couldn’t do anything, but still he didn’t want to leave the man completely alone.

The time passed very slowly, but Adam moved freely between covers. He managed to go completely unnoticed among several mobs of men armed to the teeth and knock them out without hardly making any effort. Anyone who passed by the tech lab might think that Pritchard was watching an action movie, unfortunately this was very real.

Little by little, all the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Sarif knew what he was doing when he placed all those extra augs on Adam: he was not going to have the rejection syndrome and his training as a soldier specializing in high-risk missions would turn him into a lethal and silent killer. The breakup of Adam and Reed was a notorious scandal throughout the company for a while, but they ended up getting along pretty well as friends, despite how badly they broke up. Frank distrusted the woman's attitude by then and, once that the truth had come to light, he would rather not have been right.

When he turned his attentions back to the screens once more, to his surprise, he was met by Adam entering into the server room to look for the switch he mentioned before. Once the man pressed it, the blueprint showed an extra floor. Hacking the security cameras was taking a little longer than usual, there was something very dangerous down there. Frank felt he had to try to stop him.

           - I can see a whole map of the building, Jensen. It turns out that there is a lower level where you are right now, they have managed to isolate it from the main network. Someone’s in the cameras... God... those are the three-people responsible for the attack - Frank ran his hand through his hair nervously, he knew that this moment would come. - There is... an elevator. You must cross the red door and walk to the end of the corridor, it will take you there.

Adam reloaded his pistol and started walking to the indicated direction in silence. Frank's nervousness prevented him from copying his colleague's behavior, he had little hope that the man would cower at the last moment and turn around. They both knew what was going to happen.

           - I would recognize the brand of Sarif Industries at first sight, these augs have not been manufactured here. In the best case they will be Tai Yong Medical and at worst they were made with spare pieces, in other words: unpredictable behavior. The woman has a built-in stealth system much more powerful than yours and two mechanical legs, one of the men is covered in... armor? Jensen, he has all parts of the body augmented, as if it had been completely rebuilt after an accident - Frank swallowed, he knew none of this was going to convince him - The last of them has, among other things, several grenades designed specially to damage augs and two mechanical arms, one of them has a minigun.

           - It's not very wise to be an aug and carry that kind of grenades. That guy seems the dumbest, I'll start with him.

           - Adam... The last time, you ended up... bad and they did not even have to fight with you. You do not have to do this, you can turn around now and Sarif will understand.

           - This is not because of Sarif.

Even though he did not say anything else, Frank got the meaning of his words loud and clear. Ironically, these unpronounced words were the ones that hurt him the most.

Adam's death was not going to contribute in anything for uncovering the history of those guys anyway, in fact, he would be doing them a favor by allowing them a chance to finish their job. Frank was condemned to see how the whole catastrophe would happen and then, writing down an impersonal report which detailed everything leading to the man’s death. He felt a painful twirl in the ever present ache inside his heart. _Why go on with this madness?_

           - There's one thing I'd like to tell you before entering that room. Maybe I don't have a second chance to say it and I want...

No way he was allowing him to make a confession. Everyone had good things to say before they died and the survivors have to deal with the harsh reality and face all the consequences.

           - Don't you dare to do a damn goodbye. Don't you dare tell me anything that crosses your mind in the heat of the moment to silence your conscience. If you're such a moron to commit suicide for a woman who never cared for you, do it. I don't even... - Frank bit one of his cheeks to avoid talking and silence the sound of a sob. He had to be professional - Do what you think you should do and let's get this over with, I have work to do and so do you.

The tech's comment caught Adam off guard and it hit him hard. The security chief could not protest, these were the consequences of avoiding talking to Frank throughout the day. Without further comments, Adam pushed the doors and met the three mercenaries. The bastards were so sure of getting out of the situation that they made a couple of jokes and decided that one of them would be enough to kill him. A fight between Adam and the guy who had a minigun on his arm it was then.

Frank's hands were trembling on the keyboard, staring helplessly at the images. Not knowing what to do, he decided to photograph the mercenary's face and compare it to a police database. Seeing his way of fighting, that man was not new to the business of killing people, maybe he could find the identifier of his augmentations or any useful information that Adam could use in the battle.

Words could not describe what the screen showed him at that moment. It was brutal. A few minutes ago, Adam was moving around the battlefield like a cat. It was stealthy, fast and lethal. Now all his movements were clumsy, he could barely reach the covers and he was receiving many shots. The mercenary's minigun was destroying all surfaces, leaving Adam with  fewer and fewer alternatives. One of the bullets hit him in the wrong place. The stealth system was badly damaged.

A beep. The search was over, the full name of the damned murderer was Laurence Barrett. A decorated soldier, couldn’t be otherwise. No relevant data beyond his name, this would complicate matters further. Adam's vital signs were decaying quickly, Frank desperately searched for anything helpful in the images of the single security camera.

           - The security camera captures a box on the structure you have on the right. I think it's full of grenades, maybe you can use them against Barrett. Maybe it's easier to cover up there.

Ignoring Barrett, Adam ran to one of the stairs. However, the mercenary managed to reach him in a few seconds, grab one of his legs and pull him down. After a punch in the face, the screen that connected to his augmented vision began to look blurred: the blow had broken one of his lenses. He tugged on his leg and held him upside down with a disgusting smile. One more blow and he would have finished the job he had been commissioned to.

Frank didn't want to look. If anything happened to Adam again, his heart could bear it no more. His hand was already moving to dial Sarif's phone number, but a signal on the screen caught his attention. Adam's icarus landing system was short-circuiting, that could only mean one thing: Barrett had put one of his mechanical fingers in one of Adam's bullet holes to make both circuits come into contact causing a serious failure.

The bastard knew what he was doing. If he kept doing that, the short-circuit would kill Adam instantly. The only thing he didn’t know was that Adam had someone overseeing all his movements. Without a second thought, Frank quickly typed into his computer and disconnected the most damaged augs, ignoring all system warnings, which caused a shock that overloaded Barrett's mechanical hand. Adam took advantage of that little time window to jump into the upper structure. Little by little, he was throwing all the grenades. Each of them was causing serious damage to the mercenary while destroying the few parts that had remained intact after the preceding explosion. The screen monitoring the only security camera ended up turning off.

Adam jumped from the top level and stuck his nano-blade into Barrett's neck, causing the mercenary to fall to the ground once and for all. Pritchard had to cover his mouth with his hand to avoid letting out a scream, he could hardly believe that he had managed to get out alive.

After a little nonsense talk where Barrett gave him a new location to keep looking for more clues, there was an explosion. This time the screen that connected with Adam's lenses turned black and the infolink only made a whistle. This nightmare was never going to end.

It no longer made sense to keep looking at some screens with a "lost signal" sign. Not knowing what to do, he got up from the chair so fast that he hit his leg. He ignored the pain and ran to the HQ’s cafe as fast as he could. Halfway he thought that he could have called Malik and spared himself the trip and saving vital time, but it did not matter anymore. Adam was lying somewhere in that disgusting warehouse.

           - Pritchard? It must have happened something big so you decide to delight us with your presence. I'm waiting for Adam's call, so I can't have a long chat with you.

           - You won't receive it, his infolink has been damaged. I've also lost contact with him, but I know where he is: in that fucking shit place.

           - I'm going to pick him up - Malik started to walk towards the helipad. When Pritchard started walking after her, she turned around - Hey, now, you stay here to try to establish a commlink. Jensen may be badly hurt, but he knows how to take care of himself and, if I take you, I'll have to bring two badly wounded guys. Let me know when you find something, okay?

The tech saw the VTOL take off and decided to return to the cafeteria to walk in circles, trying to contain his anxiety and failing in the attempt. If he kept on like that, he was going to run out of fingernails to bite. There was no point in trying to locate Adam's frequency, considering the explosion had damaged the implant nor did it make sense to look for him in the building, the security camera had been destroyed and it was unlikely that Adam had walked to any other room in such critical state. Plus, that building was immense and he could be anywhere. The only thing he could do was trying to maintain the little composure he had left while looking out the window wishing to see the VTOL as soon as possible. The pain in his chest began to intensify, Adam was alive before losing the connection and there was no point in thinking that something bad had happened to him. He had survived much worse things. _But… what if he had not done it this time?_ His hands began to tremble, this could not be happening again.

He looked up to see the lights so characteristic of the vehicle. He ignored all safety warnings and ran to the door to receive the news, whatever they ware, he needed to hear them. He opened the VTOL door the moment it landed the helipad floor and went inside to see Adam's condition. From the security camera he couldn't see all the damage, but in person it was devastating. The internal circuits of his augs needed an urgent repair and the bullet wounds on his skin needed to be treated too. Everything else would heal fast thanks to its sentinel implant, _thank goodness_ , he thought.

           - Should I help you take him down to the lab? Sarif will want to hear a report from...

           - St Pete has a helipad, land there.

What Adam needed most was a replacement of the most damaged parts, having all the circuits connected back, also some re-calibrating of the sensors and, of course, having the deepest wounds cleaned up so they would not get infected. Nu-poz would not work for Adam, so he couldn’t be taken to any hospital, let alone to a hospital controlled by Sarif, the last time he came out with many more than necessary augs.

          - Do you need anything else? - Malik asked, arching her eyebrows to Pritchard's hunched figure over Adam's unconscious body, patting him a little maniacally while he muttered to himself everything that had to be done to bring the man back on his feet.

          - If Sarif asks you, you would do me a favor if you didn’t tell him about this.

          - Consider it done. And, Pritchard... I'll leave my infolink activated. If something happens, call me and I come ASAP.

 


	6. Healing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pritchard tries to put his feelings aside to try to heal Adam's wounds and maybe Adam will start to see something special in the grumpy hacker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time I've given a lot of work to thefancypantskid. Thanks to her invaluable help the chapter is a hundred times better.  
> ([Here](http://thefancypantskid.tumblr.com/) is her tumblr and her [AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fancypantskid/pseuds/fancypantskid). Check it out!)

Frank pulled the chain attached to his belt and tried to insert, without looking, the key in the clench of his apartment while preventing Adam's body from spilling on the floor and wishing that no busybody neighbor decided to pick this precise moment to take out the trash.

The last time Adam was in front of that door he forgot to make a sarcastic comment about the locking system. He would probably tell him something like _2028 and you are still using keys to open doors, Pritchard. I thought you were the tech-expert_. Maybe Adam was right about his excessive paranoia. It had been many years and he no longer needed to protect his identity so much, but some habits are hard to break.

He entered the code into the electronic lock and waited a few seconds for the finger scanner to finish with a bitter smile. Maybe neither of them could have one of those absurd verbal fights ever again.

Finally, the door was freed of all the locks and Frank could open it with a kick. He got stumbling and ended up closing the door by dropping its own weight on it. He was leaning the full weight of Adam's body on his shoulder, staining his leather jacket with blood and various mechanical fluids that emanated from the man’s augs. Nothing mattered at that moment, he was too focused on letting Adam fall on his bed with care.

Frank felt that his head was going to explode, even his hands were beginning to have small spasms. He hadn’t suffered from these symptoms for a long time, but it seemed like the recent events along with all the lost sleep hours were beginning to take their toll. He walked to the bathroom and pulled one of the countertop drawers open with such rush that he tore it away from its frame. He poured its contents over the sink, inserted a little bottle and a sterile syringe into his pockets. First, he had to make sure that Adam was stable, he would have time to check his own health later. He couldn't lose a second.

               - Come on, Francis... you've done this shit a hundred times and it always worked out just fine. You'll have time to collapse later, when he isn’t dying - he muttered. Maybe he was trying to evade the ghosts of the past or maybe he was trying to convince himself that everything was fine. After so many years it was hard to know which the right thought was.

He grabbed Adam's left arm and gently tugged at his mechanical wrist to reveal his blood-covered nano-blade and some hidden screws. He loosened one of them and dropped the piece of metal to the floor to reveal one safety port. He plugged in all the cables he needed to start the task. He noticed the port was wrapped by some kind of wristband drenched in blood, he pulled gently to cut it, but it was elastic.

It didn’t take him too long to realize what it was: a hair tie. In particular, one of his own. The one who forgot to pick up the first day he stayed at Adam’s home. _“Did he wear it on his wrist since then?”_ He dismissed the thought with a shake of his head. The screen was now synchronized with all of Adam’s vital signs, there was not much difference from the last time he looked at the Tech Lab. Soon the sentinel implant would take care of it.

He broke the promise he made to himself many years ago and looked at the man who was lying in his bed with tears in his eyes. Carrying Adam a couple of floors left him completely exhausted, but his memories almost took away the strength to stay on his feet.

Nireen. Just thinking about that name, his headache intensified. The story of his life was repeating itself. He could have a crush on anyone, a writer, a clerk or someone with a normal life. But no, it must be Adam Fucking Jensen. _"Crush? No, Francis. You know that's not the damn word, at least not for a while"_ Even when he pronounced his own name in his head he did it in the same bittersweet way as Adam called him.

His melancholic chain of thoughts were interrupted by a beep from one of his screens. Frank looked up at the clock. He removed the cap of the syringe with his mouth and filled it with the contents of the bottle he picked from the now broken drawer. He pressed into Adam's neck firmly, looking for the right spot. Then, without hesitation, he carefully inserted the needle. He checked up the screen again. The security chief’s vital signs began to improve little by little, but his increases were still shit. Francis knew he had a few hours to fix all that disaster and not one second to lose.

               - Aerith, look for _Software Adam_ and show me on _main screen_ the result of its execution. I want a numerical interpretation in real time and a graph capable of predicting the system output in the next thirty seconds. Pay special attention to the heart rate and the brain waves. Let me know when there is a change in those two patterns or in any other that is worth mentioning following the _AJ parameters_ database - After his words, a laptop placed in one of the tables at the back of the room lit up and began to execute the order that had been entrusted to it.

He placed a chair near one of the shelves in the room so he could reach one of the boxes that were on top. _Sarif Industries, SPARE PARTS. CYBERNETIC PROSTHESIS AJ-X MODEL_ was written with a marker on it.

               - _Software Adam_ located. Sending required data to _main screen_.

The metallic voice was familiar. He didn’t trust enough in any electronic company to use the personal assistants that they offered _for free_ , so he decided to build one on his own. It took years to complete the task and he almost never used it, he just built it for the pleasure of creating something that was a mental challenge. However, Aerith helped him to keep his head on several things simultaneously. And, at times like this, it was something he deeply appreciated.

Frank used to be proud of his own creations, but Aerith was special: after the last improvements he added to its code, the VI was beginning to become an AI. It was a pity that engineers wouldn’t receive a remuneration as good as what he could amount being a Black hat. Maybe the story of his life would have been different.

 

Adam heard a rumble and woke up. However, he felt like he had lost total control of the augs, having been rendered unable to move. He was quite sure that he had managed to make it to Malik's VTOL, but later memories were blurred. Someone had grabbed him to led his body somewhere. Assuming it was a rescue team, he let himself go, there wasn’t much else that could be done.

As he woke up, he noticed he was lying in a comfortable place, actually it was too comfortable to be a stretcher, so a bed it was. He couldn’t feel his bulletproof armor pressing against his chest or pants tightening his legs. After several attempts, he managed to open his eyes. It was very strange to see absolutely nothing, his vision seemed to be turned off and it was a frightening concept. The only way he had to find out more about his whereabouts was refining the few senses over which he still had control.

A noise, voices maybe. He wasn't alone in the room. The non-augmented parts of his body tensed as he never thought they would.

               - …you're always working, Francis... - the voice of an old woman echoed through the room, her French accent was so marked that it was difficult to understand some words - And now you tell me you don't know if you can come visit me at Christmas because you have to keep working, again? _Chéri_ , I know that you and Joe never got along, but the solution to your problems is not to avoid each other's presence. You should sit down, talk and solve all your personal issues. It's Christmas, Francis. Christmas is to spend as a family.

               - Clayton and I have _not_ been family ever and we will _not_ start being at Christmas - Frank's voice was tense and sharp - I call you later, I have an issue that keeps my mind busy right now.

               - Call whenever you want, _mon coeur_. - The woman seemed tired. As if they had already had this conversation a hundred times - But do a favor to this old woman and stop working so hard, the company is not going to sink because you go out one night with some pretty girl. If you continue like this, you're not going to give me any grandchild!

The comment caught Adam so unprepared that he almost let out a laugh, fortunately he managed to keep his mouth shut in time and the only sound he managed to make was the expelling of a large breath of air. The tension in his muscles began to fade. He could not see where he was but, if Frank was next to him, he knew he was safe.

               - Alors, fais attention à toi, mon petit lapin.

               - Allez... Au revoir, aïeule.

As Adam didn't know how to speak French, he couldn't make any sense of what they said, but Pritchard’s tone of voice was very different. Despite how irritated he could be, the words flowed out of his mouth without a trace of annoyance, if anything they sounded a bit resigned. To hear him speak was almost pleasant.

               - I'm sorry I put you in this situation - Adam said after hearing the old woman's giggle being cut off abruptly, probably Frank had already learned that the security chief had regained consciousness - but I'm glad to know that everything went well.

Despite his blindness, his mind was recreating Pritchard's disgusted face. Probably, he would be standing with his arms crossed in front of his own chest and glaring at Adam with ferocious intensity.

                - ... _went well_? I saw what that thug did to you! He hit you! I saw the bullets going through you! I've been repairing the damage for hours, Jensen! - little by little his tone was altering until his breathing started to choke. His voice sounded so irregular, he seemed very nervous. If he didn't slow down, he was going to have a heart attack at any time - I must make a few final adjustments before activating your system, if being in the darkness makes you alarmed I can…

               - I'm not alarmed anymore! - after those words, silent felt over the room. The only sound he could hear was Pritchard's agitated breathing and a steady clatter on a keyboard.

Little by little, a stinging sensation spread across his left side. He recalled how a volley of bullets had hit that area and completely destroyed his bulletproof armor, the movement of the fight forcing it to tore through his side. This wasn’t his by far the first time he suffered from very serious injuries: even in the missions he performed as SWAT shit had happened, and Adam knew very well how massive injure felt. However, the pain was not as severe as other times, now it was more of a localized discomfort and being left with a vague sense that something went wrong somewhere. His sentinel implant could accelerate the healing of the wounds, but it was not something magical and more serious wounds would take much longer to heal. Pritchard must have sutured some, but waiting was the only way to get to ideal healing rate.

The less they spoke, silence felt heavier. The sound of the keyboard dimmed, at some point, the tech’s shaken breathing was the only thing that remained. As the sentinel decided he no longer needed pain relief and was out of danger of going on shock, feeling started to return to his numbed skin and muscles. It didn't take long to feel a piece of very cold metal in his torso causing small jerks in some areas of his skin: He wasn't wrong in his prediction, Frank did had sutured some wounds.

After finishing that arduous task, Frank’s hands returned to feel his chest, this time to throw off gauzes that had adhered to the wounds, cleaning with a wet cotton where it hurt more. His hands moved with firmness and speed, as if he was used to doing these kinds of tasks. Adam wanted to ask how the other man had managed to learn to do something like that, but he didn't dare. Nobody learns to do those things just for the sake of it, there must be a horrible story behind it.

A deep sense of sadness flooded the thoughts of the security chief. Definitely, Frank had taken the worst part in this fight.

               - All the augmentations will activate gradually, as they finish synchronizing. When they finish, don't get up, let your sentinel implant finish repairing all the damage and take the opportunity to take a little sleep. I strongly suggest you should try all the features of your augmentations before doing anything crazy. Maybe I have to re-calibrate all its functions and it's better not leaving it to the battlefield.

Frank said all that while typing some more and after a few moments of white noise and distorted sepia tones, his vision started to sharpen and adjust to the room’s lightning. The first thing he saw however was not what he expected. He hoped to see a Francis Pritchard with a frown, visibly annoyed and in a defensive posture, nevertheless, he found something completely different.

The man was turning his back to all the screens where they were showing a multitude of graphics and incomprehensible data, his hands held scrawled papers and first-aid apparatus. The dim light illuminated his whole figure, emphasizing all the sharp edges of his face even more. The white sweater he usually wore to work sported cuts and various stains, his peculiar ponytail was almost undone and his hair was tangled, as he had probably spent all night combing through with his hands in his typical anxious demeanor. The shadows under his red rimmed eyes were more pronounced than ever, as if he was struggling to hold back tears. His face was much paler than normal and, if Adam focused his gaze on that area, he could see that stubble had grown patches on his cheeks, pronouncing a very subtle scar in the right one he had never noticed before.

Behind him, Adam could see a lot of blueprints, diagrams and instructions. On the table, several papers full of scribbles and on the chair could see Francis’ infamous leather jacket stained with dried blood, most likely he would had to throw it away _"Damn, he said it was a gift."_ Clearly, all the hours Francis had dedicated to fixing his augs hadn't been simple.

               - Why am I in your apartment half-naked and not in a clinic? Are you nuts?

               - The last time you got into a clinic controlled by Sarif, you went out with seven biochips and many more mechanical augmentations than necessary. I could take you to LIMB, let a gang of quacks do what they wanted with you and I could get some deep sleep. Instead, I decided to apply the proper methods in order to heal you. I knew I could take care of the situation and so I did it. You are welcome.

The tech's tired sigh filled the room, he wasn't well. These hours had been a complete hell and he didn't even tried hide it. Adam was starting to feel really bad for him.

               - I'm not dead, so... I really owe you one, Pritchard - The situation was getting too sentimental and Adam didn't want to deal with it in that moment - All those papers behind you... What the hell are they?

Frank took a few seconds to realize this was a serious question with no intention of mockery. He took some blueprints, brought his chair closer to the bed and began to give a brief explanation on the main circuits of Adam’s mechanical limbs. The security chief listed to him in silence and in a short time the man had went from one subject to another and back several times to give coherence to all his explanations. Time passed quickly as Pritchard managed to get Adam's full attention thanks to the passion he put into explaining the bases of biotechnology.

Somehow, the two of them connected in a very special way and none wanted to end the conversation: Frank was beginning to relax and enjoy having someone nearby who would listen to him and Adam was completely hypnotized by his words. Eventually, Adam decided to contribute some ideas in the conversation about the little research on the mechanical theory he had been doing for so long and he could see, with great astonishment, how Frank was taking note of some of the ideas he was giving.

Frank didn't take long to share one of his hobbies: building small sculptures and devices using leftover pieces from others. He lowered some boxes full of dust stored in the shelf and showed him some of them, he had not even bothered to give them a name. They had been created for the sole purpose of spend free time and then forgotten inside storage boxes, he didn't even consider selling or giving them a real application.

The boxes were full of picturesque gadgets and, while joking and laughing, they named those they thought might be useful in one of their missions: multi-tool to help sabotaging the frequencies of the most complicated hacking devices and a biocell to dispose of great sources of energy and reuse it to reduce the recharge time in his energy converter. They needed some small tweaks to run a its full capacity, though. As Adam seemed honestly enthusiastic about them, maybe Francis could put the finishing touches on them.

They talked until dawn, a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by Pritchard.

               - It's daylight already! Shit. I've exhausted you. I've talked too much. I'm sorry...

Adam blinked, it was hard to believe that he had been wrapped in bandages for half a night, simply talking about various subjects. Frank looked away with an embarrassed expression. _"How many times have you been asked for explanations about something, you've tried to explain too much and then told to shut up, Frank?"_ Adam’s own thoughts were drowned with a recent memory: he had done it himself. Several times.

When Frank made some changes to the company's network, he sent an email to everyone as well, trying to explain the new functionalities. He knew nobody would read it, but he did it anyway. Whenever Adam went to the tech lab to receive a report, Frank would always try to explain how he had managed to solve the problem and Adam never listened to him, assuming the tech was being thorough in his explanations because Sarif told him to or because he thought everyone else was stupid, but these last few hours in his company had proven otherwise: Pritchard enjoyed talking about things he knew well and what seemed like arrogance had more to do with social awkwardness and some insecurities about how actually valuable his work was. Adam didn't think something like that would affect the other man so much, as his expression never changed when someone said something dismissive to him.

Instinctively, he searched for a framed diploma on the wall, it was more than obvious that Frank had a college degree and would make a good professor. However, he could not see any. In fact, there was no decorative object in the entire room. No photos, no memories, not even plants. More than an apartment, it looked like an office, in stark contrast to his actual office at Sarif’s HQ full of personal touches.

               - No, don't apologize. - Adam finally said. -  It has been... fucking incredible, you put so much passion that it's impossible to stop listening to you. Why are you not investigating? Or I don't know... doing something important. Maybe teaching?

               - If it was up for me, I would send all the technology companies, the universities and all the people in the world to eat deep shit.

Pritchard turned to the screen of one of the computers that were closer him, as he had said everything he had to on the matter. Then he got up from the chair and started turning off all the electronic devices in the room. Adam was about to change the subject of conversation, but finally Pritchard continued talking as he kept staring at one of the screens and massaged his neck over the sweater carefully.

               - You and I aren’t so different, Adam. When I was in college I had the innocent dream of using my knowledge to help people too. I did it for a while, just like you are doing right now. It didn't take me too long to discover that humanity doesn't deserve my sympathy or anyone else's. People are evil, nobody does anything for free, important jobs are only achieved by having a friendship with the boss or being a real asshole and the lines between good and bad are blurred with the help of a good wad of cash. In this world, it's either fuck or get fucked.

               - If you really think that, why are you helping me?

               - I don't share the reasons you have to do what you are doing, but I understand them. I know very well what it is to be completely screwed up. Not everyone has the balls to pick up their shit and do something to change their situation and I respect you for it. Besides, I know that with or without my help you will continue with it. And I want to think that, if I am close to you, the chances of getting yourself half-killed were slightly minor.

Adam looked at him and this time he did it with different eyes, he could see an emotionally exhausted man. Someone tired of trying to please a world that had done him a lot of damage. Despite everything he seemed to be enduring, he was able to make a bittersweet joke to relieve the pressure of the moment. Maybe that was the reason why Pritchard only used sarcasm when tracking his missions. Maybe that was the reason why he behaved like an asshole with everyone. His hurtful comments were not a form of attack, but defense. Suddenly, he felt a great admiration for the man.

               - I've been avoiding Sarif for a while and I start to run out of excuses, Malik is also involved and, as much as I hate to tell you this, you should talk to him. Don't give the boss too many details, I've done an extensive report and he don't need to hear anything else. Maybe you should take a shower, though. Uh, the water will fall quite black, it is part of the liquid that your augmentations take inside to be able to work. The only thing that will happen if you don't clean it properly is some staining, so don't worry. The bathroom is over there. Do you need help to get up? - he said quickly, without stopping to take a breath in the middle of his speech.

Adam shook his head. Somewhere in the past, he would have made an acid remark about how much Frank liked to talk, but this time he remained silent. Another comment out of place and the man was going to have an attack. Besides, his mother hen antics were quite endearing in their own way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This note aims to be a translation / clarification for all those people who have not been able to understand certain expressions written in French.
> 
> \- Chéri = darling.  
> \- mon coeur = my heart.
> 
> The dialogue  
> "- Alors, fais attention à toi, mon petit lapin.  
> \- Allez... Au revoir, aïeule. "
> 
> Means literally:  
> \- Anyway... take care of yourself, my little bunny.  
> \- Yeah... Goodbye, grandma.  
> In French it's common to call "little bunny" to small children, it's a very affectionate name (It's like saying "my dear son" or something like that).


	7. Clear the air.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam and Frank begin to work out some of their differences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, I've got the help of thefancypantskid. She helped me by putting the finishing touches to this chapter.  
> ([Here](http://thefancypantskid.tumblr.com/) is her tumblr and her [AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fancypantskid/pseuds/fancypantskid). Check it out!)

The other passengers thumped on him without any regard when passing by and Frank decided he was going to get off the bus one stop before reaching his destination, he couldn't take it another second. He looked at his own reflection in one of the doors and looked away almost instantly. He couldn't recognize the person who was looking at him.

Using contact lenses after depriving his eyes of so much sleep wasn't a good option, so he took his glasses instead. Without his leather jacket he had been forced to wear his old trench coat and, to top it all off, he completely forgot of adjusting his hair in a ponytail before leaving home. Now he looked like a pompous office worker who had taken the wrong bus.

Definitely, he should cut his hair, it was starting to get too long.

Bus trips put him in a very bad mood, in half an hour he had managed to reach his limit of social interactions throughout a week. He walked briskly down the great avenue until he reached HQ. He unbuckled his trench coat and walked to the stairs ignoring Cindy's astonished gaze, but she couldn’t let the opportunity pass to make up for what had happened the previous day.

            - Good _afternoon_ , Pritchard. You have managed to overcome your record of unpunctuality, I guess the new look requires some sacrifices. Surely Sarif loves it.

He stopped his walk towards the stairs with the intention of responding to the receptionist, aware that several people would be waiting to know how the discussion would end even if they already had made their minds about whom was the villain. Normally, that kind of commentary wouldn’t matter at all, he was used to ignoring provocations or having a burning remark in the tip of his tongue. He survived prison, asshole coworkers were nothing to worry about. Instead of spitting out an answer, he decided to keep walking. It wasn’t worth it. In addition, having a second offense to the rules of coexistence in less than a week had as punishment to attend a stupid five-hour Human Resources conference. Cindy was beginning to have the habit of gaining the approval of other workers at the cost of embittering his day. This couldn’t continue like that. _"I'll let you win this battle, but I'm going to win the war, Lucinda."_

Frank needed two attempts to enter the Tech Lab, the door weighed much more than usual. At his feet was the damn good behavior questionnaire, which consisted of a fucking paper pushed under his door, while they could have sent an email or used one of the office’s tablets. He threw it on the table and turned on the computer. While introducing his credentials, he filled out the application form without reading what he was marking. He had had it too many times in his hands that he had all the correct answers location committed to memory.

His relationship with the head of Human Resources was tense, to say the least. The woman had already given up completely trying to improve his attitude towards other colleagues, and she didn't even bother to hide it a little because he always received the same questionnaire. But Sarif threatened her with a pay cut so she had to keep sending her stupid questionnaires and he had to continue filling them up to avoid having to endure an argument with his boss.

Malik entered the door with a broad smile a moment after Frank sat down in his chair and finished filling out the damn test.

            - Hey, I've seen Adam going to Sarif's office a while ago, and for the looks of him, you knew how to cope by yourself... Never would imagine we have a bioengineer in our staff we didn't know about! - she paused a little, seemingly hopeful that Frank would give her some detail about everything that happened, but she only found silence and a tired look - Man, this new look suits you, but you have terrible dark circles… Are you okay?

Pritchard sighed, he didn’t have time for a small talk and he didn't want to say anything upsetting to Malik as she had his back when he decided to rescue Adam on his own. He tried to convince himself that she was well meaning, she would never do anything that could offend anyone.

            - I'm fine.

            - I want to ask you a big favor, though. The coffee machine in the cafeteria is still broken and I forgot to bring my lunch today. I have some time and I planned to go out and buy something. Can you lend me your coat? I swear I'll be back long before you find out and I'll bring you a coffee for the inconvenience. If I ask you with a face of sorrow, will you pity my starving stomach? Pretty please?

If she were any other person, Frank would have thought that this whole conversation was a farce to make another ingenious punchline. He didn't have time for this nonsense, he needed to work and keep his mind occupied with anything other than Adam in order to maintain a minimum of sanity. She didn't seem to be kidding, so giving her the trench coat seemed the easiest way to end this conversation. At least that way he could be alone again.

Malik closed the door after leaving in silence, his coat tucked under her arm. Frank removed the strands of hair that had fallen in front of his face and started working on all the warnings that had been created. It was not long since Malik's departure that he began to hear the sound of steps that he already recognized perfectly. It seemed that the world was creating a conspiracy against him. The door opened again to reveal the identity of the non-mysterious walker.

            - I talked to Sarif and he mentioned your little fit of anger with Cindy the other day. That was weird even for you. Was it because of what happened in...?

            - No, but it definitely helped.

            - Do you want to talk about it?

Frank stared at him in shock for a few seconds. Of course, Adam was going to choose the worst time and the worst place to have a talk that neither of them wanted to have. Maybe he should have called Sarif to tell him that he had a terminal disease and he must stay home forever. The day started badly, and it was getting worse.

            - Talk about what, Jensen? If we had wanted to clarify things, we would've done it already. We have had thousands of opportunities to do so, and as much as it costs you to believe it, silence is also an acceptable response. I'm sorry I put you in this situation, I do not know what crossed my mind. Even so, we have to continue working together so we will have to maintain a minimum of professionalism. As far as I am concerned, you don’t have to worry, these last days have not existed.

Adam blinked in astonishment. The speech was said in a cold and monotonous tone, but his gaze was playing tricks on him. He could see a man broken into a thousand pieces, trying to recompose himself as quickly as possible avoiding hurting himself too much. And failing completely in the attempt. Frank looked away without saying anything else, his loose hair covering most of his expression. Adam frowned, it was obvious that both men could pretend that none of this has existed and continue with their lives as usual, but the problem would still be there. Maybe it would come up at the most inappropriate moment, better fix it now.

            - No way, I'm not going to leave it like this. Are you really so naive to think you can forget these days? We have stopped being professionals long time ago. Specifically since you kissed me, twice if I remember correctly.

            - Are you mad? I think there are some people on the ground floor who have not heard you yet! Could you talk a little louder? - The man got up from the chair and abruptly closed the Tech Lab door causing a great bang. Probably that noise would attract much more attention than the actual conversation - It takes two people to kiss and I don't remember you going away.

Adam crossed his arms in front of his chest. He couldn’t deal with all this meaningless speech. He was very aware that if he didn’t get to the bottom of a question because of stupid excuses, he tented to get upset shortly thereafter. He tried to calm down, but the words were already flowing from his mouth.

            - You're right, I didn't. At least on the first one. But what was I going to do in the second? Regardless of the situation, you shouldn’t have done that. I felt emotionally assaulted.

Pritchard opened his mouth to say something, but couldn’t utter a word. His face paled so much that Adam regretted his remark instantly. Once it was already said, he couldn’t back down. Frank turned his attention to his computer screen and began typing as a mean to ignore the comment he had just heard. The man could be as stubborn as a mule and showed no intentions of wanting to continue the conversation, but Adam doubted they would ever talk about it again after this major fucking up of his and he needed to clear things up. So he decided to request the help of his CASIE aug.

Again, it didn't show anything remarkable, even though it was more than obvious that the man had several problems that should be detected immediately. This wasn't the first time he tried to influence him with pheromones, without any success. After a quick check on his HUD, he could see that no system was damaged. Not even Wayne was able to cheat this system and he was a former SWAT commander. The only possible explanation is that the other man must have neural implants, but he didn’t have any physical marks to prove it _"What the hell, Francis?"_

            - Are you really telling me that you're so brave to kiss me all of a sudden, without any context, but are you cowed to have a conversation with me about it?

            - Let's talk about this, but far from the fucking office where we are both working and where, literally, anyone passing by could hear a strictly private conversation - he took a deep breath a couple of times and continued talking - I wasn't lying when I told you I had a lot of piled up work. I contact you when I'm done here. I'll do at twelve o'clock at night, eleven if I hurry. Now, if you fuck off and let me work alone, I'll be eternally grateful.

Adam nodded, left the Tech Lab accompanied by defeated feeling and went to his office with the intention of reading and signing all the reports that were piled up on his desk.

It didn't take long until he began to get bored at reading so much nonsense. Paperwork was the thing he hated the most about his job. He knew that his procrastination was going to take its toll on later, but he couldn't read another paragraph that talked about security measures. Signing all those papers was going to take him an entire afternoon and it was unlikely that Sarif could read all the documents every day, instead, he spent the afternoon surfing the internet trying to pass the hours until he got Frank's call. Maybe it was a good idea to trace the names he got the other day, at some point he should start his investigation and right now he were not doing anything.

After several hours of searching, he discovered that the only thing he had achieved was wasting his time. Apparently, the three main suspects had a clean record. Adam only knew one good data analyst and couldn't ask him to seek information about these people without firing all his alarms. He was back at the starting point. The best thing he could do was contact Alex, she owed him a favor and had full access to the records of his former comrade-in-arms. She could even give him confidential information. After solving the thing with Frank, he would send her a message.

A new message from Pritchard finally popped up in his screen.

_"Update of the security protocol: Due to the recent cyber-attacks towards the company, it has been decided to activate all possible precautionary measures._

_The security of Sarif Industries will maintain control of all telecommunications-related infrastructure. Employees who do not have an alpha control card must make a formal request if they need to access such facilities._

_F. Pritchard. Chief of Cyber-Security"_

Adam read the email and raised an eyebrow. Frank was a very particular guy and always behaved oddly but, lately, he was getting out of all the charts. He had been working long enough with that man to know that, if he really was worried about a real threat, before sending any email, he would have requested a meeting with him and Sarif to discuss the security measures. After re-reading the email for the fourth or so time and feeling bored to the verge of tears as he had nothing else to do, Adam decided to call Pritchard just for the sake of it.

            - The email you just sent, Pritchard... What the hell? Should I worry because we're going to have to work twice as much because of your paranoia?

Pritchard seemed taken aback with being called out of the blue and took him some time for replying.

            - I just locked and changed the security code of the server room and the place that has all the network data. Nothing that’s important to you.

The temptation to drive the tech crazy was too big and he couldn't resist. Adam enjoyed those little moments with him, maybe more than he was willing to admit. After the tense conversation they had held a few hours ago, maybe it was good to let Frank let off steam with a couple of snarky comments.

            - Are you bitching around with other people, Pritchard? You hurt my feelings, I thought we had something special - However, this time he didn't take long to discover that there was something wrong. Terribly wrong. Frank didn't react in any way to his provocation, he didn’t even show the slightest anger. The only thing he could hear was the sound of his breathing. - Hey, Frank. Are you okay?

            - Yes.

The commlink went silent. The talk they were going to keep at midnight was going to be, at least, interesting.

Looking at a picture of his desk, he remembered his days as a SWAT. His old job made him get used to giving orders and the whole team doing exactly what he asked for. The problem arose when an improvisation appeared and he was not around to offer a new strategy. Many comrades had been injured due to mismanagement and even some of them had died. Since what happened in Mexicantown, Adam decided that he would only work solo. Then the fucking attack happened, he woke up being half-cyborg and discovered that he had to work with a guy who was a jerk.

Lately he thought too much about that actually-not-so-jerk. In these last hours he had saved his life so many times that he had lost count and he did it without thinking for a second or asking anything in return. In the morning, he had some doubts, but now that he had thought more about it a little, he was sure: Francis wanted to keep people away and he did it on purpose. _“How much must someone suffer to prefer such a desolate solitude?”_ And despite all the damage received, he gave the warmest hugs.

Adam smiled at his computer screen as he recalled Frank’s clumsily social skills, but also how intense he was when focused on something, and how sharp-tongued he could be when snapping back at someone.

 

_Hours later, Pritchard’s place._

Frank opened the door and invited him into the house, his right hand was covered with a rubber glove that dripped water. Upon entering, Adam spotted see several boxes, some of them were empty and others containing broken fragments of his augments, circuits and tools that were no longer useful. Together they went through the armored door.

The room had no trace of what had happened the previous night, all the papers were filed and there was not a single stain on the floor. The only thing that was out of place was the mattress resting on the wall, some parts were visibly wet. It seemed that Frank had tried to remove all the stains caused by the spilled liquid without any success. The man approached the table, took off his rubber glove and placed it on his desk, next to a brush full of soap. He sighed and looked back at Adam, his gaze was bleak.

            - It bothered me especially that you called me a coward. It was just a kiss, Jensen, not an assault on the Pentagon. I do not know what explanation you need.

            - It may have been trivial to you, but it was fucking weird to me. All the relationships I have had in my life have been... different, I have never considered anything else. I mean, I know there are other options, but I never considered them. I guess I never found a person to make me think about it.

            - _Trivial_ , Jensen? - Frank ran his hand through his hair nervously and shook his head subtly, as if he was thinking of numerous answers and tried to dismiss the worst with a nod - Regardless of this... I must apologize to you. I shouldn't have pushed you and I shouldn't have been running away from the conversation like a child all day long. I'm not a molester, it's just... I'm that bad at social relationships. I have suffered a lot in the past because of this shit and I had thought... no matter what I thought. It has been selfish, weird, it has put you in a very uncomfortable situation and I am very sorry. You have every right in the world to get angry and yell at me.

He was about to suffer a nervous breakdown right now. In HQ his attitude was similar to that of any normal day, no one would have noticed anything strange. It seemed impossible that Adam was talking to the same person. He had to do something to try to calm the tech down, he could not leave the man like that. The last thing Frank needed now was more pressure.

            - You live on the other side of Detroit, Frank. Do you really think I came here to call you a molester? I could have left you a message on the infolink or a paper stapled on the door of the Tech Lab and saved me a car trip. I didn't come here to judge or scream at you, I've only come for answers, so stop dramatizing and calm down because it's going to give you a fucking heart attack.

The mattress slid down and made a dull thud as it hit the ground. Frank decided to sit on the only clean and dry corner to sink his head in his hands. Adam sat next to him and gently pressed one of his knees to get his attention.

            - Right now, my life is... pretty fucked up, but every time you are with me it... Most of the time everything else feels like white noise, but I feel that your presence is not uncomfortable. I like to dine with you in silence while we look out the window and I like to know that there is someone caring for me when even I am not able to do so. I just wanted you to know that... Fuck, talking about this shit is very complicated. Can’t you plug a thing into my brain and see what I'm thinking? I’m sure you can do it.

Frank relaxed his expression to draw a soft half smile and look back at him. And suddenly, Adam felt it again. That special something he felt the first night that Frank stayed at home to sleep, something he couldn't explain. An again, a chill that ran all over his body, making his hair stand on its endings. It was the same feeling he had when he jumped from a helicopter 50 meters high, only this time, he didn’t have a parachute.

            - Come here.

Adam wrapped his arms around him and it did not take him long to realize how much he was shaking. Frank felt frozen, but most likely that was not the cause of his tremor. He didn’t return the hug, just clung tightly to Adam’s coat, probably afraid of being accused of something horrible again. They both remained in that position for too long, but Frank was not improving.

            - I'm sorry... I usually can control myself. These days have been crazy, I haven't slept, I've barely eaten, I've been working too many hours and…

            - I can help you get rid of all this and then, I can drive you to my apartment. You need to rest. If you want, you can bring some things and leave them there because I won't let you go until I see that you're better.

Frank looked up to make eye contact and, again, Adam’s body was traversed by that sensation. This time it was something much stronger than the previous times. His blue eyes had a special glow every time he looked at him, he would never have realized it if Frank hadn’t kissed him in the first place.

The light from the screens was reflected all over his pale face, marking his tired look and fine lines. He released one of his hands to gently touch the subtle scar of his cheek. He could see how his eyes filled with tears as he ducked his head, that it was also a painful memory. For Frank, all of them were.

            - You are as bad as I am and you don’t need more pain in your life. It's not too late for you, you deserve to be near someone much better than me... - Francis said in a thin voice, finishing the sentence with a cracked sigh: the sound of a broken heart.

Adam didn't take long to make the decision to delay his trip to Hengsha one more day, he needed to take care of Frank. He needed to stay with him. He needed to have him close. The world had already done this brilliant man a lot of damage and he was as guilty as everyone else.

He placed a hand on his chin to gently lifted his head. Another shiver ran down his spine when Frank looked back at him. This time it was so intense that it hurt, but it wasn't unpleasant. It was a pain that made him feel alive and he didn’t want that sensation to ever go away. He didn't want Frank to ever leave.

_"To hell with it"._

Adam decided to close the distance between them and cover his mouth with his in a soft kiss. It wasn't new to either of them, but this time it was different. When Frank let go of his coat and wrapped his trembling hands around his neck, Adam felt that time had stopped just for the two of them.

This time it was very different from the others. Adam smiled when he heard a small moan as he savored the bitter taste of coffee from his lips. He gently removed Frank’s hair tie to caress his head fondly. What began as a clumsy cuddle, grew to something absurdly intimate and passionate. There was no better feeling in the world than kissing the trembling smile of a grumpy hacker.

_His_ grumpy hacker.

A noise broke the spell they had created and the world spun again so quickly that they both felt a little dizzy. Adam turned his head to check the source of the noise and could not help frowning to try to intimidate an inanimate object lying on the ground. “ _Stupid glove”_.

He returned all his attention to the man in front of him.

            - I'm not going away. You have healed my wounds and now I am going to take care of yours.


	8. We need to talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thefancypantskid has offered to help me with the chapter.  
> ([Here](http://thefancypantskid.tumblr.com/) is her tumblr and her [AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fancypantskid/pseuds/fancypantskid). Check it out!)

_The warden was laughing at the back of the interrogation room. One hit, this time with the butt of an assault rifle. The world was beginning to look blurry, he wondered if this time he would wake up on the floor of his cell or if this nightmare would finally end. Someone was holding his hands in handcuffs and another was holding his head tightly so that he could not move when they injected that stupid liquid into his neck. Cowards. And stupid if they thought some stupid shit were going to get his tongue loose._

_Another blow. This time it was so strong that it managed to plug his ears. He could barely hear what the woman wearing an FBI uniform was telling him, but he didn’t need to do it to know that it would be another threat. He noticed how his blood slid down his arm, that wound was going to leave another scar._

A caress on his head. It was soft and delicate but firm enough to drag him from Morpheus's arms. Frank woke up with a start and sat up. He ran his hands over his face and rubbed his eyes hard, as if he wanted to eliminate all bad memories with a simple gesture. It took him several minutes to realize that he was not alone in the room. Adam’s room, actually. At some point during the night, the aug decided they’d be more comfortable at his own flat than sitting in a corner at Frank’s messy apartment. He had been so exhausted that he just allowed the other man to guide him along the way.

          - Shit. I woke you up.

          - I was already awake. - Adam shrugged, his hair tousled and eyebrows raised in concern. - Do you need something? A glass of water? A hug? You can hit the pillow if it relieves you.

Frank smiled. He was used to being woken up by terrifying nightmares, but he was grateful that Adam knew how to ask such an uncomfortable question in such a subtle way nevertheless.

Both men approached to seek the other's warmth and end up melting into an embrace under the sheets. It has been many years since Frank didn't feel displeased with another person's physical contact, it was even pleasant. Adam’s metal arms could be extremely hard and cold, but they still felt nice in their own way. Frank sighed, as comfortable as he could be, the shadows of his recurring nightmare lingered: he wasn't going to sleep anymore and he didn't want to. _For one day I can sleep as much as I want, I decide to torment myself._ He tried to push away from Adam’s hug so he could get up.

          - It's three in the morning... - Adam said, but let him go without offering any resistance, to which Frank felt grateful. - Try to sleep a little more, you need to rest.

          - I know I won't be able to do it anymore and I don't wanna bother you either.

Adam placed his right arm under the pillow and gestured for Frank to lie down next to him again. As the tech didn't want to worry him, he decided to follow the other’s instructions, placing himself on the edge of the bed, facing the wall. That way he could leave when Adam fell asleep. However, the aug pulled his body against Frank’s back and ran his hand over the tech's arms.

Frank grabbed the other man’s mechanical hand and placed it very close to his eyes so he could inspect all the metal streaks. He stroked all the edges of the polymers with his fingers gently, admiring each and every touch sensor embedded in the cold metal. Those arms were created especially for Adam, a modification of which the company was distributing. They added the typhoon system, the nano-blade, the aiming stabilizer among many others and reinforced all the connections with a triple polymer of nanoparticles. Sarif took the technology too far and dared to place fully experimental augs on it. If Adam needed to take neuropozyne, he would probably need to take more than the maximum allowed dose: At best, he would only become an addict. At worst, the metal connections would gradually destroy the organic tissues. There are bad ways to die and there was this way.

They had eliminated almost all the connections in their touch sensors to be able to add more military technology augmentations. Most likely was he could differentiate many textures, but he had serious problems capturing the nuances. Frank didn't dare compromise the hardware of his augs, but maybe there was a way to cheat his neural implant to simulate better sensor performance.

Adam made a small movement to get rid of the weak grip and hugged his waist dearly.

          - Nighty night, computer whiz! - he whispered after moving the arm that rested under the pillow and placing it on his chest, covering the body of the tech with his own.

          - Good evening…! - Pritchard whispered back with a smile.

It didn't take long to feel the man's calm breathing on his neck, Adam must have been really tired. Frank knew that going back to sleep was out of question for himself, but he wanted to enjoy the moment a little longer before getting up: the small points of light that crept through a badly lowered blind, Adam's artificial heart beats against his back and a deep sense of welfare that wrapped everything around him, floating in a cloud of happiness. After several attempts, he managed to get up without waking his partner. Before leaving the room in silence he contemplated his face for a small moment while exhaling a great breath of air that he had been holding without realizing it. Despite having been on the edge of an attack for several days, that moment was enough to recover all the lost energy.

Frank closed the door of the room and walked to the living room to find his laptop. Creating software that would subjectively simulate the sense of touch using his old neural subnet was a good way to kill time until he had to go to work.

He turned on the computer and started programming the most basic aspects. Hours passed quickly without him realizing it, until he was interrupted with a message _‘There isn’t enough memory available to run that module. The total use of the CPU in all the cores reached 90%’_  Maybe he could finish this little project using the resources of Adam's computer, he would ask for permission when he woke up.

The tech got up from his chair, showered and put on clean clothes. Afterward, he quickly found the few ingredients in the kitchen to start preparing a good breakfast for them both. Adam didn’t take long to get up.

          - It's five in the morning, what the hell are you doing?

          - Getting ready to go to work? My shift starts very soon, Adam.

          - I'll do your job, - At this words, Frank looked at him with a half smile. He took a cigarette and held it with his lips while looking for a lighter to light it, while Adam kept speaking, - If I can't do it, I'll tell someone else to do it and if neither of us can, I'll call you. Please, stay at home and rest.

Adam approached him to remove the cigarette that hung from his mouth and give him a soft kiss on the cheek. A simple touch that brought a smile to someone who never had a good mood in the morning. The tech decided to accept the not-subtle hint while looking out the window, thinking about what to do. He really was very tired and he if he was to be honest, he’d rather not face the whole pile of work he had to do. _I guess it's okay to allow someone to pamper me for a day. That way I can finish my software._ Finally, he left his trench coat on the couch and raised his hands to show his surrender.

          - Do you want to have breakfast? I made crêpes. I don't know if you've ever tasted them, it's a typical breakfast from the city of love, Paris for short. Have you ever been there? That city is built with the materials dreams are made of. - Adam's look made him regret all the enthusiasm he had shown - I love traveling, that's all.

He started walking around the kitchen to break eye contact. There was a plate full of crêpes and a glass full of sauce to put on top. Adam helped him pour the sauce over the food and make some coffee. He was scratching the back of his neck while pressing the buttons of the coffee pot, he wanted to tell him something and was looking for the right words.

          - I like that you have brought up the subject, Sarif has asked me to go to Hengsha and I would like you to come with me, - Adam spook plainly, his eyes avoiding anywhere near Frank’s general direction. - Before you say anything: I know, but it's my only clue and sometimes you have to…

          - Are you really going to follow the trail of the man who tried to kill you? I don't know what you expect to find there. Most likely it is a trap and you probably won't get out alive. You know it as well as me. I just repaired all your damage and you... you're being completely irrational! You're a fucking...! I can make you a very long list about all the reasons why the simple statement of that question is an absolute madness. For start, the company can't work without two security chiefs. Have you seen how my subordinates work? If someone doesn't review all the work they do throughout the day, it's likely that all alarms will burst out in less than forty-eight hours. Sometimes they do such stupid things that make me wonder how they are capable of not shitting themselves. And, to top it all, you encourage them to do so! You are acting completely irresponsible and unprofessional! - Once Frank started his rant, he couldn’t stop himself. The lack of sleep along with bad news, made his voice rise much more than normal.

If things kept going on like this, a neighbor would probably knock on the door to complain about the noise. So Frank decided to shut up and bring the cups of fresh coffee to the table. Both began to eat the plate in front of them without saying a single word. From time to time, Adam would steal some food from the other plate to try to make him smile again, without success. When there was only a little coffee left in both cups, Adam decided to break the small routine of eating in silence.

          - Do you know that your little tantrum makes you even more adorable? - He whispered in her ear as he placed his hands around his body and gave him another kiss on the cheek - Being unprofessional combines the two things that I like the most: breaking some rules and drive you crazy. Besides, if I get you pissed off enough, the edges of your ears flush. And that makes you quite cute.

Frank tried to get out of the hug, he didn't want nice words or cuddling right now. That conversation had put him in a very bad mood, Adam had barely recovered from injuries that could have cost him his life and he was willing to get back in danger. The security chief surrendered and freed him, but not before placing a lock of hair that had come out of his ponytail behind his ear with a sad smile. That simple touch made his mood change completely. He wasn't angry anymore, now he was just very upset.

He had learned to control most of his emotions, but in the last few days his life had taken a U-turn and he felt absolutely overwhelmed, not knowing what to feel. _Is it possible to be happy and sad at the same time? How can I stop worrying so much about someone who is more than capable of solving certain situations on their own?_

          - I was thinking of carrying out a project with the neural subnet of my computer. In my apartment I have a homemade small cluster, but here I can only work with my laptop. Can I use the resources of your computer to execute my software? - He said as normal toned as he could, given the circumstance. They could debate a trip to Hengsha later on.

          - Given that you don't use it to work from home, take everything you want. I’ll bring it to you, give me a second.

Adam placed the screen next to his laptop. It took a couple of commands to create a new network connection, however, when he approached Adam's computer to continue the work, he discovered that the session was already initiated.

          - You are completely irresponsible. Do you ever think of logging out? How long has all your information been exposed? - Adam rolled his eyes while Pritchard spook, - Don't look me like that! Let me guess... since the day I tried to locate the suicidal hacker. Are you aware that this computer has a connection to access the files of the company? Anyone with a minimum knowledge in hacking can access a non-reinforced network and track any type of information. Literally anyone, Adam. _Anyone_!

While cursing under his breath, he prepared to close the browser, but the mouse was placed on a rough surface and caused the cursor to settle on another completely different option to finish displaying a small search history that made all the alarms in his head shoot: _Alan McGreen. Bradley Sallow. Samantha Einhard. Facility 015-323Z._ He knew those names well. They were the three most corrupt policemen in the entire United States, they received money from the worst sort of criminals in the world in exchange for giving false justice. They were the ones who obtained the unofficial permits from the FBI to carry out interrogations that still haunted him in his worst nightmares. So many years in the shadows and everything was about to go to hell because of a silly imprudence. Suddenly, he was afraid again. Afraid that Nireen would find him and put him back in that filthy prison, abandoned to his own fate. _You don't know where you're getting yourself into, Adam. And you don't know where you're about to get me. Stop looking for a false justice. Justice doesn't exist!_

          - I don't keep anything important on that computer and, if someone accesses the one I have in my office, they will only find unfinished work. Really, Pritchard, sometimes you're too paranoid, - Adam said, grabbing his coat and a pack of cigarettes.

_Pritchard_. He was simply Pritchard again, deep down he knew he deserved it. Suddenly, the software in which he had been working all night was overshadowed. He needed to make some last adjustments in that computer to be able to secure the current location and all data. He needed to talk to Adam alone about that issue urgently, maybe he could find all the privacy the subject required in Hengsha. He had to find a way to fix things.

          - I'm going with you to Hengsha then, and we must go there as soon as possible. Today is better than tomorrow, we can’t let our only clue to go cold.

          - Has something happened to suddenly change your mind? - Adam looked at him with a raised eyebrow as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. Knowing that he wasn't going to get a satisfactory answer, he decided to continue, - I'll talk to Malik, prepare the things you want to take and I'll let you know know when it’s time. I'm going to work.

          - On the countertop you’ll find a paper bag, take it before leaving. I'll leave the frequency of my infolink activated in case you need help with anything, try not to create chaos in my absence, ok?

Adam said goodbye with a wave of his hand and the tech appreciated the effort the other man made to not to pressure him with too many questions because of his sudden change of mood.

 

The trip to the office was very quiet, it was so early that there was no one out on the street. The silence was so deep that the paper bag that was crumpled in the pocket of his coat was too noisy. It didn’t take Adam long to get to HQ and go up to his office.

Adam turned on his computer, apparently no one was aware of them swapping jobs for the day. However, Pritchard had managed to move all the tasks he should have received on his computer to Adam’s. The security chief was completely shocked to see the amount of alerts, reports and other information that Frank should take care of daily. He tried to solve some of those problems, but they were too laborious. It was impossible to finish all this before a week and as most of the staff wasn't even working, probably more of these tasks would show up as the morning progressed.

As the hours went by with no significant change in the number of incomplete tasks, Adam was completely overwhelmed by the amount of work. At first he thought that the excessive complaining about colleagues was one of Pritchard's many proclivities, but he could see with great astonishment several emails from his coworkers demanding that work _must be finished_ with very unkind words. The straw that broke the camel's back was the last message received. This contained a verbal threat, nobody would have sent that email if they knew that the true recipient was Adam.

He clenched his fist hard, trying to calm his anger, but all he managed to do was activate the compartment of his nano-blade, throwing a pile of unfinished paperwork to the floor. He tried to calm down for a few seconds and when he was less angry, put the blade back in its compartment and prepared to overwrite the tech's security code to return all tasks unrelated to cybersecurity to his recipient accompanied by a little message written with words as aggressive and inappropriate as they had used with Frank all these years. _He has suffered much more than anyone should, and if someone ever hurts him again, that person is going to have serious problems with me._

It only took half an hour to finalize the pending list of tasks afterwards.

The only work he had yet to do was finishing signing these security reports and that was what he was going to do. While he held a pen with his right hand, scribbling additional information to the reports, in the left one he had the fork with which he was taking bites his lunch from time to time. He was not even hungry, but he couldn't wait to eat what Pritchard had prepared for him. He wasn't used to eating at work, he didn’t like cooking, and he didn't want to waste time preparing mediocre quality food, but he was beginning to take a fancy to those little shows of affection. Plus, everything he prepared was always very tasty.

When he finished all his lunch, he was going to throw the bag in the trash, but when he wrinkled it, a napkin ended up falling on his table. It seemed to have a small message written on it:

_"Here I am, writing words that I dare not say on a napkin that probably will end up stained with grease. I feel drunk with courage as I look back for the sanity scattered all over the floor when you embraced my soul at three in the morning. I could tell you so many things... but, if you pay attention to the way I look at you, you should know everything._

_I found you without wanting to, and you taught me something that I already thought was lost. And yet, now that I have the opportunity to kiss you until my lips numb, I am afraid of spoiling it all. Maybe you were right when you called me coward._

_Francis."_

Adam stared at the stained napkin doing nothing but reading and rereading the note. The written words resonated deep and he soon decided that he needed to talk to Frank, both had to find a way to fix things. The sooner they went to Hengsha, the sooner they could have adequate privacy to talk at length about what happened in the last few days.

He put the napkin in one of the inside pockets of his coat and stood up to pick up the pile of papers he dropped earlier.

Someone knocked their fingers on the glass door and he turned to face the person who caught his attention. Malik was on the other side of the door, smiling and pointing to a plastic bag in her hand. He motioned for her to enter.

          - Good morning, Spy-boy! Here I have what you entrusted me to get, but I have to warn you that it isn't exactly the same. Before you ask: these are his exact measurements and I won't answer any question that starts with 'And how do you know?' One has to keep some secrets. Oh! I have also received your bank transfer, along with several more credits. I intend return them to you, tough guy! - she said with her usual cheerful mood.

Adam placed the papers on his desk to take the bag Malik had offered him and look inside. A leather jacket, orange, black and white. She was right, it wasn't exactly the same as the previous one, but it was just as eccentric. It definitely looked pretty small, but he had to trust Malik's word, she wouldn't have said something like that if she wasn't completely sure.

He wanted to vent on her and tell her everything that had happened on this last night, but probably Frank wouldn’t want his personal life aired out. So, he decided to shut up. Malik turned one of the chairs that were in his office and sat on it while collecting all the papers lying around the table, trying to sort them.

          - The guy with whom I share office is saying very unkind things about you. I'm not criticizing, but... I suppose that, if Pritchard isn't here, you shouldn’t be doing his job?

          - I _know_ , but Frank has them very spoiled. Everyone in this company is fucking inconsiderate and someone should tell them that what they do is wrong. They screw up, he stays up all night fixing their mess ups and Sarif never finds out about anything. Yesterday he was suffering a damn anxiety attack and even so, he stayed until the morning helping these people who don't give a shit about him. He is the head of cybersecurity, I don't understand why he has to review all the reports of the legal department, among many, many, many other things. And I don't understand why he has to endure all that mountain of hatred that people throw at him.

          - The two of you are arguing all day, but as much as it costs you to admit it, you have a rare and beautiful friendship…! - she gave him a wide knowing smile. Only God could know what was going through her head.

          - By the way, would you mind making room for one more person in the VTOL? I need tech support in Hengsha and I think things will go better if I take a grumpy hacker as hand luggage. We can leave now if you want.

          - If you think you'll need his help, it's fine for me. We're going to be a little tight, though. My friend's house has capacity for three people, but there are only two rooms. So... you can fight for the single room on the fourteen-hour trip. I’ll be on Spotify to avoid listening to your absurd fights, - she said winking at him as she got up from the chair. Before leaving, she looked back to give him a playful smile, - I'll be waiting for you at the bird, come whenever you want.

Adam put the leather jacket back in its bag and sat back in the chair, stroking his forehead with his hand, searching for the right words to start talking to Pritchard. After several minutes of thinking about it, he decided that it was best to act as if nothing had happened. He marked the correct frequency on the infolink and waited to receive the signal.

          - The lunch you prepared today was delicious. By the way, I've talked to Malik. We have half a day of flight ahead, the sooner we leave, the sooner we arrive. What's left for you to do?

          - It's called _Gratin de pomme de terre_ , they're basically gratin potatoes... - the muffled explanation was followed by a sigh. He could almost see Frank running his hand through his hair, trying to find the right words, - I couldn't do much with a kitchen that seems to have been ransacked, you only had potatoes on the verge of spoiling, cheese of dubious quality and milk. However, I've found a multitude of empty beer cans, boxes that once contained Chinese food that should be in the trash and too much cereal.

His words were harsh, but his voice wasn't so much. The man was genuinely concerned about him, Adam thought, the words from the little note in the forefront of his consciousness. They would talk about all this later. Now wasn't a good time.

          - What can I say, I’m not as thoughtful as you, - Adam said, a little smile curling up his lips when he imagined Francis grumbling about boxes and spoiled leftovers while he cooked, but pouring his heart on it anyway, for he was making something for someone else’s sake. Someone else he cared deeply. _They really had to talk as soon as possible._ \- What do you think if we met at my apartment’s helipad in half an hour? You should eat something, though.

          - I wait for you there, then.


	9. Hunting the hacker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, I write the chapter and then I have to face the real challenge: Give it a title. I believe that after nine chapters, I’ve converted this whole business of “looking at the finished chapter for half an hour while I think of several possibilities to end up choosing the worst” in my personal brand. Don’t hate me very hard for having the same capacity for synthesis as a rotten egg (I am trying to improve, I swear it!) and… Enjoy the new chapter!
> 
> Thefancypantskid has offered to help me with the chapter.  
> ([Here](http://thefancypantskid.tumblr.com/) is her tumblr and her [AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fancypantskid/pseuds/fancypantskid). Check it out!)

Adam was on the verge of crying from boredom, they had only been four hours traveling and he had used all the resources he had to entertain himself. Pritchard was crouched in a corner of the VTOL, typing furiously into a computer that seemed to have infinite battery. He didn't want to interrupt what the tech was doing, he seemed extremely focused. From time to time he listened to Malik hum the melody of some song.

After a little walk in the small cabin, he dropped back into the seat. This time, the blow of his back moved his suitcases slightly and he could glimpse at the bottom of the luggage something that looked like a book or a magazine. He hastened to locate the element that was going to get him out of his mortal boredom and once he had it in his hands he could not help but let out a laugh that caught the attention of the two passengers.

          - A Cosmopolitan magazine? Malik, the scandal! - he said leaning on the pilot's seat.

          - I don’t care about the magazine, all I want is the sample shampoo they give away. It’s very expensive, and limited edition, Jensen. The bottle shouldn’t be far where you found that magazine and if you lose it, I swear I throw you through the airlock and abandon you to your fate wherever you fall! - She said while pretending to be very angry, failing at the attempt. Which caused both of them to burst out laughing.

          - I know that I started this and I'm sorry to break your heart, Fly Girl. But I've been keeping this kind of conversations with Pritchard for so long and... I feel that if I keep joking with you, I'll be cheating on him.

          - When you get bored, you are just like a child. Sit down, read the sex article and stop bothering us.

          - Aye, aye, ma’am.

He hated that kind of magazines, but he really was so bored that he decided to make an exception. He sat down again and began to search for something to entertain himself in its pages. _This thing has almost a hundred pages, at least ten have to be something interesting_ he said to himself as he sought to entertain with an article. There were many pages where there were only pictures of models posing with ugly and expensive clothes and he found an interesting pastime trying to guess the price of each of them before reading it at the end of the page.

After a couple of hours, Adam decided to sit in the co-pilot seat so he could look out the window and try to sort all the things he had to talk to the tech. Somehow, he felt uncomfortable thinking of something so intimate with him nearby.

He had never felt a special interest in other men, he wouldn't even know how to classify male beauty, but there was something special about Frank. In the past, he had never been attracted to people of the same sex. Right now, he could say several things that he liked about the hacker: His eyes, bluer than clear sky, the strands of hair that kept escaping from his ponytail, how soft and cold his hands were when he put them in his chest to heal his wounds, but what he liked most, was the connection that both were beginning to feel. It was something more deeper than he would have thought, even more than he had ever felt with someone.

Adam read the note he found in his lunch so many times that he had memorized it. He knew that Frank was aware that if something bad happened to Adam, he couldn't do anything, so he worried and tried to make do with what was at his reach. He cooked to have him eating something that was not cereal and offered company in a completely disinterested way. The ex-cop never thought he would end up rejoicing that he had ended up working with the most annoying guy in the entire company. When thinking about him, the memory of the slight contact with his soft lips returned to his mind. Adam ran his hand over his face trying to relive the feeling that accompanied that moment, that instant of absolute happiness where the world stopped so that, after so much time, he could feel alive again. A moment that tasted like bitter coffee and a comfortable morning in.

The soundtrack, formed by a nervous pulse on the keyboard, which always accompanied Frank had ceased for a while. Worried, Adam turned his head to see what had happened and found the tech with his head thrown back and a hand on his computer keyboard: he had finally fallen asleep, but was placed in a completely uncomfortable position that was going to take its toll on the next day.

The security chief got up activating the aug that allowed him to move in silence to avoid awakening him. He rummaged in his suitcase for a rather fluffy sweater and rolled it several times over himself. Very careful, he approached Frank and made the other man’s head rest on the makeshift pillow. He also removed the computer from his lap and put it in its case. Before sitting in the co-pilot seat again, he took off his coat and placed it over Frank’s body to prevent the man from catching a cold.

Before depleting the energy of his system, he sat down next to Malik and leaned forward to stand near the pilot's ear.

          - Malik, if you could... - he began to say in a whisper - Please, don't make much noise. Frank have had trouble sleeping these days and needs to rest. If he doesn't sleep enough he gets very grumpy and I am the one who has to put up with him.

She nodded with a faint smile to let him know she had received the message. A quick glance at his HUD's watch was enough to know that there was no need to stay awake much longer, so he placed the lenses over his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. It didn't take him long to fall asleep.

 

_A few hours later._

          - Pritchard, honey... You haven't said anything since you've get into the VTOL. Is everything ok back there? Are you dizzy?

          - Don't worry, Malik. I'm fine. I'm just waiting to see when the man of the moment wakes up, maybe he is dead and we didn't notice. Do you think that, if I throw a suitcase over him, will I get his attention?

The dialogue between his two companions managed to wake Adam up. The characteristic bad humor that Frank had in the morning made him guess that the man had also woken up recently. This time, he had not even bothered enough to hide his discomfort to Malik. Probably she was not even offended, she had been working in the company long enough to know that the man had a really bad temper.

          - For some reason that I don't know you had managed to close your big mouth for more than five minutes and now you’re never going to shut up. Great, you only have fifteen hours of stupid pent-up talk. By the way Pritchard, good fucking morning to you too. - Adam replied rubbing his eyes with his hands, trying to contain a yawn.

          - _Afternoon_ , actually. Have you heard of a thing called ‘time zones’? Maybe in third grade? - Frank snapped - When you finish being an asshole it would be nice if you came here, I have to put the typhoon ammo on your arms and introduce the hacker’s location on your radar. You can only carry four shots of that thing, so... use them wisely.

Adam sat next to him, took a large breath and let the man win that fight while repeating to himself that this was the tech's odd way of showing his concern. Frank opened a briefcase full of discs, left four of them in his lap and placed his hands on Adam’s arm. He pulled one of the safety ports on the mechanical arm to reveal a cylindrical structure and insert two discs.

In that instant, the pilot turned her head, worried that both men were engaged in a silent physical fight. But, what she found was something completely different: Frank concentrated on his task and Adam paying close attention to it, giving him a very tender look while sketching a soft grin. The security chief raised his head, meeting her eyes for a brief moment. She smiled at him and Adam sticked to the serious expression that he used to have. Malik then turned her attention back to all the controls on the VTOL to give the men some privacy.

Pritchard, without being aware of what had just happened, performed the same thing in the other arm. When he finished, he reached for another briefcase and placed an improved multi-tool and a stun gun on Adam's lap with a look that didn't need words, he was almost begging him not to kill anyone.

          - That should be enough... - Frank already had the headphones he used to monitor all their missions. He pointed to an area on the map that was shown on his computer screen and continued talking - Malik will land on the roof of that building, the hacker is in Youzhao District. You should have your location on the radar. I guess you tried all your augs before you got on this airplane, just like I told you, _right_? I did several tests, but better obtain data from the field than a machine.

The security chief took the folded trench coat neatly on one of the back seats and put it on, placed the stun gun in the holster on his waist and his pistol with a silencer in a side compartment in his armor chest. All that remained was to store the multi tool and a few clips for his stun gun in the pockets of his coat to be completely ready.

          - Sarif wouldn't have hired you if you weren't able to extrapolate results, _right_? - The only thing he could see before rushing into the void was Pritchard's terrified expression. The man was so paralyzed that he wasn't able to say anything at all before the jump.

Adam felt the air cutting his cheeks and hitting his body, falling faster and faster. His HUD showed no error and he knew that all his augmentations would be perfectly configured. He was quite sure that Frank would have checked it countless times.

He had contained himself in the battle with Barrett, he hadn't used the full potential of all his augs and that fact almost caused his death. Those stupid mercenaries had fucked up his life and there was no turning back, there was no point in being nice to them or avoiding hitting them too hard. They were willing to kill and, and if Sarif had turned him into a human weapon, it was absurd not to take advantage of it in those situations where brute force was necessary. But, he didn't want explaining to Frank the reason for his reckless act, probably he wouldn't understand. He didn’t want to hurt or worry him too much.

Despite the speed he had managed to reach, the landing was smooth and slow. When he stood up, he activated his infolink and the first words he heard didn't catch him by surprise.

          - You're lucky I'm a fucking genius and I didn't make any calculation mistakes! I wish you had died crushed by the weight of your own stupidity. You are such an imbecile! If you don't die in search of that damn hacker, I kill you, I swear it.

          - Your concern touches my heart, Pritchard, - he said with a broad smile.

Adam started walking on the roof of the building, looking for a way to get to the main street. If his arms and legs were not mechanical, surely they would be numb because of the trip. Instead, all he felt was the beating of his heart in his head. He had so much adrenaline that he could knock out a guy stuffed in a heavy armor with a single blow. Definitely, jumping out of the VTOL had been a glorious idea. He didn't enjoy wearing all these military augs most of the time, but he had to admit that on certain occasions, they could be extremely useful.

          - Big surprise, just as _I_ predicted it's full of Belltower mercenaries who are going to block your way. If a certain moron had listened to all my warnings about this, we wouldn't be holding this conversation.

As soon as he saw the mercenaries who surrounded the building in question, Frank didn't take long to make one of his typical remarks. However, his voice did not sound as irritated as usual, it seemed that the man was trying to take things more calmly.

          - No shit, are they corrupt? Fortunately, Sarif didn’t listen to a certain smart-ass who wanted to hire them. Use that big mouth of yours to give me useful information or shut the fuck up.

          - The most obvious entry is the main one. I know what are you thinking… and maybe, and just _maybe_ , start a shootout in the middle of the street because some soldiers block your way to do an illegality is a bad idea, Jensen. If you want to be more discreet, you're going to have to enter from the roof. Our man is on the second floor. Hurry up, if he has a modicum of intelligence he will have his place of work under surveillance and, as soon as he detects you, he will run away. You must hurry even if he escapes: The later you arrive, the more evidence can be erased from his computer.

Adam began to surround the building sneaking towards some ledges. After several minutes inspecting the area, he could see a scaffolding. He climbed the ladder quickly and could see, several meters ahead, the exit of an air duct. He walked carefully along a ledge until he reached his goal. A punch were enough to burst the entire metal grid without suffering a single damage.

He could almost see Pritchard staring furiously at his computer screen, patting the ground with his foot to show the deep displeasure of his violent actions. The only way they had to communicate in missions was with sarcastic comments, that was a comfortable terrain for both. Taking advantage of the moment to look for the exit through an air duct, he decided to alleviate all the tension that Frank probably would be beginning to feel.

          - Today we argued in a special way, Pritchard. My soft landing was the confirmation that all your calculations, adjustments and calibrations were correct. If I had to bet, I'd say you're the kind of guy who can get sexual pleasure knowing you are right.

          - Do I have to remind you that I don't have the subvocal communication implant? I have to simulate their functions with headphones and a microphone that are, literally, a meter away from Malik - he whispered quite agitated.

          - Are you upset about that nonsense? Oh boy, you just gave me too much power.

          - Yeah, there's nothing more exciting than hearing the whisper of dirty words in your ear while witnessing a fucking slaughter.

          - Who said dirty words? I'm a true gentleman.

The sound of Pritchard's disgust was the last thing he heard before cutting the link. Adam continued walking until he found an exit. He pushed the grid and take cover behind a vending machine to inspect the ground.

If his goal was the second floor, he would need to reach the elevator that was at the end of the corridor, guarded by three mercenaries armed with a combat rifle and several concussion grenades. He pulled out his pistol and planned the onslaught, but something reminded him of the moment he had shared with the tech on the VTOL. Doing all that without firing a single bullet was going to be a nuisance, but if this was what Frank wanted, it was worth it. Those bastards were going to be able to live another day thanks to a man that everyone accused of being heartless.

He holstered his old pistol and pulled out the stun gun. He could only fire once before reloading, the shot could serve to immobilize the furthest mercenary. Now, all that remained was waiting until the two who were patrolling the area walked themselves close enough to be neutralized in a single punch. The doctors had told him about an aug that would increase his reflexes, it was a matter of time to know if they were right or it's just another piece of useless metal stuck to his body.

Finally, the two security guards coincided on their route. It was necessary to act quickly: Adam came out of his cover and, crouched, approached their position. It didn't take them long to discover him, but it was too late for them. He stood up, grabbed the heads of both guards, hit each other with enough force to make them fall unconscious to the ground, and, before the last mercenary could aim his rifle, he had already fired: a shot that hit the center of his chest, giving him an electric shock powerful enough to make him share the fate of his two partners.

Not bad: Three casualties, no deaths.

Possibly, the guards kept some information that was worth knowing, Adam searched his pockets to find several useless pocket secretaries. However, he decided to appropriate the grenades and some ammo before entering the elevator.

Adam pressed the button that allowed him to reach the second floor and, while waiting to reach his destination, reloaded his stun gun.

          - Your stoic attitude catches my eye, Pritchard. You should know by now that one of my hobbies is making you lose your composure and you're making it very difficult for me.

          - Maybe you should think about focus on fulfilling the mission's objective and leave the building before the local police notice your presence instead of trying to get me mad.

          - Believe it or not, I can do two things at once, Francis.

          - And... now, you're behaving like a teenager.

          - Yes, but only because you have been really sorrowful since yesterday morning. I just want to make you smile and make you forget about what you're so worried about.

A light snort of relief was heard through the only active infolink channel. The comment caught Frank completely off guard and he couldn't do anything to contain his smile. Somehow, knowing that the tech had managed to relax and been happy for a moment, made him smile too.

The elevator stopped and, before its doors opened, he heard a noise. A small touch on the side of his lenses was enough to activate his smart vision. This allowed him to see a pretty corpulent figure waiting for him, pointing at the elevator with a submachine gun. Adam took benefit of the tactical advantage, placed himself on one side of the cubicle and didn't wait for the doors to fully open. As soon as the door opening was large enough for the stun gun cartridge to pass through it, he fired.

He walked through the corridors, there were several collapsed walls and small piles of burning papers: Belltower had gone ahead of them. Adam approached one of them to try to put it out. Perhaps the hacker had burned them before fleeing because he had written something important in them.

          - Ignore the papers, if that man has been stupid enough that Belltower and I have been able to locate him, he has nothing useful written there. I've improved the multi-tool, use it with his personal computer. It will allow me to securely access all his information. You can try to find something useful while I take care of it.

Adam took the device out of his pocket, placed it near the computer and pressed a button. The screen soon turned on at once, opening a window that kept receiving different commands at great speed. Frank had forgotten to close the frequency of his infolink and the rattle of keys could be heard. He allowed himself to picture the scene, he rarely had the occasion to watch Pritchard in action and it was turning out to be something quite interesting.

          - I made a dump of the little information that the guy couldn't erase before leaving. I'll analyze them as soon as you get out of there, but I'm afraid we're not going to find anything interesting: most of the hard drive was completely blank. You can inspect the place for as long as you want, but you have to keep in mind that, at any moment, someone can appear who send your plans to hell. Remember to disconnect the multi-tool's frequency before leaving the place.

The security chief disconnected it and placed the device in his pocket. Despite all the material destroyed, there were still too many papers there. In some of them the hacker should have put something useful. After rummaging through several shelves, a paper folded several times with words written in different colors caught his eye.

          - What do you think of this? - he said briefly pointing to the paper on his hand.

          - It's a pseudocode of an algorithm capable of mining data from a dating application. Maybe it could supplant someone's identity there too. It’s a completely useless infor… He probably is a freelance hacker who accepts jobs related to data mining. If he has to accept these shitty jobs, he's completely broke. If I don't find anything useful on his computer, I'll try to follow this track on that application. Who would say it, Jensen? Finally you have managed to do something useful.

His eyes lit up. He didn't want to continue pushing the man to the limit, but he didn't start the fight this time. Frank had put the perfect punchline on a silver platter and he couldn't miss that golden opportunity. He was going to have trouble saying the next sentence without letting out a chuckle.

          - Dating application? That's... oddly specific, Pritchard - he said as he continued to stir another pile of papers hoping Frank would take the bait once more. - It's okay, we all have a past. I'm not judging.

          - It's not what you're thinking! You can get enough amount of personal data from those accounts to fill a database and sell it to the highest bidder. It is the oldest trick to earn a few easy credits! Just... get the fuck out of there, Jensen. It seems incredible that you are the ex cop and you're walking around at risk of being caught…! -  This time the man was so freaked out that he couldn't even strike back in an ingenious way.

Adam decided to take his warnings in consideration and prepared to retreat through the way he entered. In principle, path should be clear. So, he placed the newly loaded stun gun in his hand and walked calmly towards the elevator again. However, he was a little worried that this time Frank had felt actually offended.

As soon as he pressed the appropriate button on the elevator to ascend again to the floor from where he entered the building, the noise of a small giggling slipped in from time to time along the line and that made him absurdly happy. Those little fights were the only way they both had to disconnect from a shitty reality without getting too emotionally involved. A small space that they didn't share with anyone else and where they could simply be themselves, without anyone judging them. Only two people trying to survive one more day in a world that had turned their backs on them.

          - Hm, it’s ex SWAT, Francis.

          - I'm going to kill you, I swear it! - Frank replied, sounding more relaxed, probably trying to hide the smile on his face.

Suddenly, a strange noise slipped through the frequency of his infolink, and he felt a very particular pain spreading inside his head. His HUD indicated a failure in the cranial implant. The sensation was so intense that he ended up losing control of his body. Adam fell to his knees on the floor helplessly, the pain was so severe that he couldn’t even tell Frank about the problem he was suffering.

          - Mister Jensen, you have been interacting with certain man who proved impossible to locate lately. For years I've been chasing traces that lead nowhere, but a few days ago I was able to locate you thanks to certain... reckless investigation of yours. It turns out that, this… person has something that belongs to me on his property. I am a very generous person, though and I offer you a fair deal: you give me back what is mine and I don't kill you both. What do you say?

The volume and the signal that his implant emitted were modified. An unidentified distorted voice spoke directly to him, causing a terrible headache. Adam tried to answer them, but it was impossible. What that person was doing in his head had completely immobilized him.

          - Nikolai, get away from him. First and only warning I'm going to give you! - Pritchard hissed. Somehow he had managed to realize what was happening.

Little by little, his cranial implant became stable again, Adam began to regain control of his body and he couldn’t be more grateful for anything at that moment. He still felt weakened and his head hurt so much it looked like it was about to explode, but the security agent decided to rush out of the building before giving the mysterious person the opportunity to immobilize him again, this time surrounded by Belltower soldiers. He ran to the air duct from where he had entered and prepared to leave quickly on the other side.

          - Not ‘Nireen’? I must have pinched a nerve playing with your robocop. I have to admit it, I wasn't sure if you would be able to take the bait. By the way, how are you doing with your paranoia? I've read that, over the years, the symptoms get worse. You were quite a character before, I would pay a good amount of credits to see what you've become, - the mysterious voice took a few seconds to release a small mirthless laugh. - If you want me away, you know what you have to do and if not... Well, your friend won't have it that easy. You have four hours. I just hope that... - the communication was cut off.

Despite Frank's nervous nature, the man had handled the particular situation with a very unusual calm. It almost seemed that he was prepared for that.

          - What the hell was that, Pritchard? Who was that person? - Adam shouted out loud in the middle of the street, luckily he wasn't in America and few people would have understood him, - I'm _still_ listening to that stupid buzz and my head _still_ hurts like hell. I have the constant feeling that I'm going to faint at any time.

          - I know. But that's all I can do right now. When you're here, I'll relieve that pain. At this time, you are out of danger. Close your infolink and don't open it again until I tell you to do it and return to the VTOL. We have many things to talk about, but I appeal for you to be discreet: Malik doesn't have to worry about this. Pritchard out.


	10. Meeting an old friend.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The modification of Adam's cranial implant signal has forced the two protagonists to make a small stop in the mission that Sarif entrusted them with. It's time for Pritchard to face a past that he has been fleeing for a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for this time, this chapter is twice as long as usual!!
> 
> Twice as long, double the drama, much more "AARRGG why has not there been anything sexual related in 10 chapters???" (Pritchard has suffered a lot in the past, ok? He need time to trust someone again!) and a LOT of work for the lovely thefancypantskid ([Here](http://thefancypantskid.tumblr.com/) is her tumblr and her [AO3](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fancypantskid/pseuds/fancypantskid). Check it out!). As always, she has offered to help me with the revision of this chapter.

Adam carried the heaviest suitcases while Frank carefully dragged the luggage where he had stored all his technological equipment. Malik stepped forward several steps to stand before a door and enter a code on the digital panel. It burst open and everyone went into the apartment.

            - Let me show you all of this. - Malik said. - It's an apartment big enough for us, but maybe you're going to have to pause your usual fights for a while to be fully comfortable. Here you can find the kitchen and a table large enough to eat quietly. The door on your left leads to the bedroom with the double bed and at the end of the corridor…

            - Thank you Malik - said both men in unison entering the room and closing the door behind them.

He threw the luggage he was carrying on the ground and, following Pritchard's instructions, placed the wheeled suitcase he had been dragging on the bed. Frank pulled one of his laptops out of its case and, while he waited for it to turn on, started looking for the small case where he had stored a few hypodermic needles and several bottles with anesthesia. When he found it, he tucked it into one of his coat pockets, sat on the bed, placed his hand on Adam's shoulder and pulled gently down to make him rest his head on his lap.

            - They have your infolink frequency. To avoid more problems in the near future, your cranial implant must be completely deactivated. Not just simply off, but completely deactivated. - he muttered, placing the computer nearby - The forced deactivation of the implant will overheat the system, being so close to the brain and taking into account the alteration of the software, it will probably hurt like… a lot. I'm going to apply some anesthesia so you do not feel pain. The effect will be gone in four or five hours. You are going to stay out of this, I can handle this situation on my own. Years ago I saved the life of a person very capable of doing this job and I was going to ask him to return the favor, I just have to make a couple of calls.

Even though he tried to sound calm, Frank was thinking about so many things at the same time that it was impossible to have a coherent conversation. Fully aware that most of the words he had just said made no sense, he decided not to give further explanations. He reached for one of the devices lying on the bed, connected it to his computer and started looking for the software he had been working on for a whole day. The code was quite chaotic, he hadn't had time to debug it correctly or optimize everything it should. Luckily, it was able to perform the function for which he had been created: the deactivation of Adam's cranial implant.

When he placed his hand on the other man’s neck, trying to find the right spot, Adam sat up quickly and stared in astonishment at the syringe that Frank held in his hand. Suddenly, he was nervous too.

            - That person who was not smart enough to expect duplicity or quiet enough to get out of wherever he had gotten without triggering all the alarms and getting caught in a death trap? You're going to waste valuable time trying to locate him and you don’t even know if he will agree to help you. I’m also very capable of doing this job and I'm already here, so you don’t have to waste valuable time trying to locate or call me. Take that thing away, deactivate the implant and start telling me what mess you've gotten yourself into. I've had to endure bullet wounds, a small chip isn't going to do anything to me.

When Frank put the syringe back in the case and tossed it to the other end of the room, Adam leaned back in his lap while still making eye contact. At any other time, the tech would have made a sarcastic comment about his obvious aversion to needles, but at that moment he let it go.

He placed his hand on one side of Adam's lens. A small flat screwdriver was enough to pry up the implant shell and leaving the mechanism and the safety port exposed. After that, all that remained was to insert one of the sensor cables in the right place. A simple glance was enough to tell Adam that he was going to start the process. Frank grabbed his head lovingly and hit a key. The man squeezed his hands on the mattress. Being fully aware that he wouldn't be able to relieve his pain, the tech stroked his hair fondly while the percentage of the program continued to rise. The small electromagnetic discharge would be enough to inhibit the sensor and turn it off completely, but it was going to take a while.

            - Well... this story is way too long. - Frank started searching for the right words while watching the progress of the software on his computer, as if he could force it to roll faster just by staring at it.

            - At any other time, I would try to be patient with you and I would listen with great pleasure all your talking, but it turns out that we have a four-hour deadline so cut the crap. - Adam let out a grunt and made a short pause to catch his breath. The deactivation really should be hurting him a lot - Explain only the most important parts of that story and, when we have solved the problem, you tell me everything else. Who is that person? What does he do? What do you need? Where is that fucking psycho?

Adam stretched his arm to gently pull on his chin and force him to make eye contact.

            - No way I'm going to let you go alone to solve a problem of mine. I have a kind of... plan: if she is where I think she is, you will have to bypass countless digital panels with maximum security, cameras, guards and I don't think you can do all of that shit without the help of your implant. Fortunately I’ll be able to make up for the lacking stuff. The main issue is that particular subnet is isolated and I can’t access it from outside the building, I haven't even been able to get a blueprint! Manipulating that information is a very delicate process, it’s better to do it from one of its servers.

Frank opened his eyes and put a hand to his mouth, as if trying to eliminate all the words he had just said, without really believing that he had said all of them. He could not help but remembering some of his worst interrogations, where the agents tried to extract this same information using brutal methods for months without any result and now he had collapsed by a simple glance and a soft touch. He had just revealed the identity of one of his partners in crime without realizing it and all he needed was a brief contact with Adam.

            - Taking you with me is not an option, Francis. It is absurd that you have even raised it. Hacking while listening to the sound of the battle from a headset in the comfort of a desk chair it's not the same than doing crouched in a corner dodging the bullets of a gunfire. I can use the multi-tool and... I don't know, we'll figure something out. We're good at solving complicated situations.

Their target was one of the best hackers in Europe, she could move around without a trace, as if she was a shadow. All the code she wrote was practically impossible to decrypt, both men were going to have to resort to less conventional methods to be able to anticipate her position. This situation was far from being _complicated_ and if they didn't manage to incapacitate the hacker, the whole situation could turn into something much worse, something that could border on a suicide mission. Frank couldn't let Adam venture into that fortress without the help of the cranial implant. He had too many things to explain, but there was no time for any of them.

            - Do you think I'm excited to accompany you? I've been thinking about an alternative for hours and... Please, trust me. If I go with you, we can work together, we can move forward much more quickly and efficiently: I help you to deactivate the defenses and you open your way between the enemy lines. And if not... I won't be able to do anything for you, we have no way of communicating and I won't be able to access the network either. This isn't one of those situations that are solved by hitting a couple of thugs, Jensen. It takes much more... subtlety and finesse. The moment a simple camera almost detects you, a guard nearly sees you, a sensor slightly activates or an alarm sounds, everything goes to fucking hell.  

            - The person you wanted to locate. Who is she?

Frank wanted to trust him, but something told him not to, as if he had the constant feeling that he was going to be betrayed, again. However, Adam already knew some facts about his former colleague, he had agreed to help him and, unfortunately, he was right: Locating someone who doesn't want to be found would take too much time. There was no point in hiding more information, but neither was it necessary to do a careless talk.

            - The person who spoke to you is, among many other things, a hacker. His real name is Nikolai and his handle is Archangel. He’s just a loose canon with delusions of grandeur and many friends in high places. He doesn't represent a danger right now, we will deal with him later. The hacker who got the frequency of your infolink and left you incapacitated is the real problem, the Darknet know her as Paragon. She is extremely fast, efficient, intelligent and loyal. She can be very dangerous if we don't persuade her before approaching Archangel. She hides her location after several encryption signals and a multitude of satellites that are completely out of my reach so... I haven't been able to triangulate her position with enough accuracy, but I think I know where she is. I have a hunch. She is not a bad person per se, though. She... just too combative for what she thinks is the right thing to do.

            - The only reason why I am willing to enter a swampy terrain blindly is because I know that you have shit up to the neck. I have a bad feeling about these people and I want to help you. Knowing that you can't locate the cause of the problem and that I must follow a _hunch_ , doesn't help at all to move forward with this. I think you haven’t listened correctly to everything that you just said! I can't work with a _"more or less"_ , Francis. I need some very specific coordinates. You know it, goddamn!

A small beep was followed by a sigh of relief, the first phase of the program ended. Frank carefully lifted Adam's head and let it rest on the mattress as he stood up to finish preparing all the things he wanted to take with him.

            - You have to stay like that for a few more minutes, I'll let you know when it’s ready. - He told him passing a lock of hair behind his ear.

            - I think you've fried something in my brain because I'm starting to think about doing this fucking madness of allowing you to come with me - after the end of deactivation phase, Adam's voice sounded much calmer.

The tech sat up with a bitter smile and opened the last pocket of his case to take out a box with a half empty little plastic bottle containing a transparent liquid and a few sheets wrapped in a piece of cloth. A couple of minutes were enough to complete his ritual, the smell of latex, wax and glue reminded him of a time he thought he had forgotten.

            - I thought that someone like you would use more sophisticated methods, covering fingerprints with glue is something that hackers did forty years ago.

Despite everything that had happened that pushed them together these last few days, Frank had the feeling that everything was going to go to hell because of Nireen. However, when he looked up, he met Adam's eyes and his expression wasn’t judgemental or, at least, it didn't seem to be. It was just one of the comments they used to make to relieve the tension and he noticed how much he was missing that kind of bantering, much more than he had ever imagined. The security chief had a gift for dealing with complicated situations cool headed.

The beep the computer emitted took him out of his thoughts. The software had finished. Frank replaced Adam's lens and plucked out the wire of the safety port.

            - A message will appear on your HUD from time to time saying that you have a failure in your neuronal implant, it's normal and that annoying buzz must have gone by now. Remember that you won't have access to any of your cranial augments. That means: hacking related augs, infolink, radar and social enhancer. Take everything you need, we're out of here right now.

Without saying anything else, both men began to fill their pockets with various items that each of them judged useful. Frank wanted to tell him everything, but there was an inner voice that shouted at him not to do it. After a few minutes of inner struggling, he managed to silence it and continued talking.

            - You can’t leave without knowing this, Adam. Maybe you're wrong to assume that I'm the victim in this story and maybe you're putting your own safety in danger by getting into this.

            - They are the ones who have insisted on getting me into this case using the frequency of my infolink to incapacitate me. And I know that, if you were not completely sure that we were set to do the right thing, you would have insisted a bit more on not letting me participate in it. Also, I get paid to get into situations much more dangerous than this so stop worrying, everything will be fine. But, when we return... I wanna know every little detail, ok?

Once they were done with the preparations and Adam made sure to tell Malik they were out for a scouting mission, which prompted her to reply “have fun, boys” with a mischievous wink, they left the apartment and began walking towards their destination in silence. The streets were very busy at that time of the afternoon and people didn't seem to care about the two foreigners walking around. Frank grabbed the strap of the satchel where he kept his laptop, trying to stay calm. At the fourth blow he received from another person walking in the opposite direction, Adam grabbed his hand and, little by little, put himself between Frank and the crowd.

            - Paragon, Archangel... these are nicknames, bet you have one too. What is it?

            - Did you just ask someone to reveal his secret identity in the middle of the street? Your question is offensive in so many ways that I don't know where to start telling you to fuck off. By the way, they're called _handle_ , not _nicknames_. Did you skip that class at the police academy too? - Although both were further away from the conglomeration of people, neither of them seemed to have intentions of undoing the point of contact between them. They ended up interlacing their fingers.

            - I'm sorry, _Francis_. Some of us aren’t born with your perspicacity and people skills and we have to ask questions expecting a kind soul to take us out of ignorance - Adam had his lenses over his eyes, but Frank knew that while he was saying that, he had rolled them.

The tech made a small noise to show his displeasure and walked more quickly towards his goal to prevent Adam to see the small smile on his face. Lately, his acid comments no longer intended to hurt. He was beginning to enjoy the new meaning that they were slowly giving to them. Something between banter and flirtation that served to ease tensions and, for a brief moment, to give them a false sense of peace.

It didn't take too long for the men to reach the Russian embassy. Adam looked at the door and blinked several times, as if he was trying to process the information he was receiving. It seemed that he was about to ask for more explanations and Frank didn't know if he would be able to say anything, at least at that time. However, the man broke the contact between their connected hands and nodded his head. It was not necessary to say a single word, establish eye contact or accompany the message with an appropriate expression. Frank repeated the gesture and, as if synchronized, both entered through the front door at the same time.

He would never admit it out loud, but that was one of the things he liked the most about Adam. With him, words weren’t necessary to communicate what he wanted to do, a gesture or a simple glance were more than enough most of the time. Secretly, Frank admired the eloquence he showed when it was necessary and the temper he had with certain situations. The police department lost a very good cop when they let him go.

            - I need to access one of these computers for a couple of minutes. If you find one already logged in, that would be fantastic. There will be much less chance that Paragon will catch us prematurely.

Adam clicked his tongue and began to walk the first steps into the restricted area, as he was another employee casually going about his job as usual. Frank was a good addition to the “walking in as you belonged there” subterfuge, since he had no apparent augmentations, his presence besides Adam made him look less threatening, maybe just some security officer escorting an office clerk. Together they walked down a corridor full of offices trying to avoid as many cameras and security guards as possible, until they found an empty office isolated from the rest of cubicles and offices. Even though that were a good spot to hack without being seen, that computer had extra security measures. Before Frank could complain, Adam grabbed the other man’s hand again and pulled him gently toward a door.

            - Do you know that it would be _fantastic_? Let your friend come out with his hands up and a post-it in his head where he explained in ten words whatever the fuck is happening, but this is real life, Pritchard. You have come with me to _specifically_ solve this type of problems so do what you have to do and do it quickly. I’ll watch the door and make sure that nobody bothers you.

A tug on his arm forced him to sit on a chair to face a screen: _"Welcome Mr. Veprev. Enter your password"._ Frank rubbed his fingers nervously on the table while he evaluated what to do, this was the price he was going to have to pay for not having enough time to explain things to Adam calmly. The counter at the screen’s leftmost top indicated that he only had two attempts to try to guess the password and, knowing Paragon, at most Francis had ten or fifteen seconds before triggering all the alarms.

The flash drive he had in his pocket stored a modification of his old dictionary and the rainbow table that had helped him burst a lot of passwords in the past, but neither of those two methods were going to help him hack the password with just two attempts in less than ten seconds. The temptation to tell Adam to look for another computer was very strong, but his pride prevented him from doing so. As he lowered his head slightly to tighten the rubber of his ponytail, a landline phone appeared in his field of vision and suddenly a crazy idea crossed his mind. He put the telephone receiver on his lap and, without getting up from his chair, approached the printer.

He dialed the technology department and placed the earphone in his ear while covering the microphone to to distort his voice.

            - _IT Department, this is Huan Yue._ \- the person said, in Russian. - _What I can help you with?_

Considering the man’s voice on the other side, Frank concluded he was a young trainee who had just obtained his diploma a few months ago and this was his first job in a large building. His cheerful attitude made it clear that he was not used to receiving completely inappropriate calls.The call could have came from anywhere in a fairly big office and the boy sounded very naive. Unfortunately, he would have to take advantage of that.

            - I haven't got time for that shit, I can't _log in_ my computer. Tell me one thing; do you do something throughout the day or do you just get paid to do nothing? - he called the boy off, in unpracticed Russian that he hoped the chinese employee would not notice.

            - _Ivan, I mean, Mister Veprev... passwords must be changed every three days, it’s the protocol. This morning I sent an email reminding your entire department. But... Are you completely sure of having tried to access your user? I can't see any error from here - the voice of the man on the other side of the line sounded tense, maybe he wasn’t as naive as Frank had assumed to fall for such an obvious bluff. He couldn't hang up the phone now though, with just a little more pressure maybe he could get the information he was looking for._

            - Jesus Christ, You're really breaking my balls, kid. I woke up today with a fucking flu but of course the stupid doctor won’t sign me one single day off, so I have to work sick the whole afternoon and, as if that was not enough punishment, now I've to listen to your pathetic whining. I've much more important things to do than worry about reading your idiotic emails or checking the protocol. If I told you that I tried to access it, I tried to access it. Do you even know how am I? Gimme the fucking password if you don't wanna have a serious problem with me.

The tech could see his younger self in that poor graduate student, the small indignant gasp the man let out made him remember each and every one of the IT related jobs he had gone throughout his life. He really felt bad for all the words he said. Unfortunately for the young man, that was going to become little by little his new reality. Maybe it was better to start getting used to it.

 _\- It's your name in capital letters, a space and ‘123' in the end. Do I have to remind you that...sir?_ \- Frank hung up the phone without letting him finish the sentence, feeling a strong prick in his conscience.

He didn't need to look at Adam to know that he would be giving him a weirded out stare from the other corner of the room with crossed arms over his kevlar covered chest. He decided to ignore him and continue working. They could discuss what just happened in another more private place, he had already made much more noise than necessary anyway. All that remained was to enter the credentials, try to access the database, extract the information and delete the log file, nothing that was really complicated.

At the first attempt, he got administrator privilege and it only took a couple of seconds to access the database. He could observe, with great astonishment, how it wasn't complete, as if someone had manually deleted multitude of rows and some registers without following a specific pattern. The only passwords he could find without encrypting were those belonging to the devices of that level and the one immediately below. Luckily, one of them was from the server on the lower floor. The next thing was to introduce the USB and place a copy.

When the transfer finished, he extracted the flash memory and accessed the log to erase all traces of what he had done and to try to find an explanation for all the irregularities he had just witnessed. There was no trace of any other type of activity beyond his own. That could only mean two things: the embassy was suffering from another cyber-attack by another hacker and Huan Yue would be fired soon.

Frank approached Adam and gave him a soft tap to get his attention. He didn't need to see his eyes to know that he had not been wrong in his prediction. The man seemed puzzled about what had just witnessed, but there was something else in the way he watched the tech, something akin to curiosity.

            - So, you yell in russian to a phone and things happen, peculiar approach, Francis.  - Adam grunted.

            - I swear I’ll explain everything later, but suffice it to say I can improvise under adversity.

            - Clever, - Adam purred, still eyeing the other man like he was trying put oddly shaped puzzle pieces together. - You’re flexible then.

Maybe it was the compliment, maybe it was Adam’s deep but soft tone making the fine hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, but Frank felt his face warming up at these words. He bit his own thin lips and tried to focus on their mission, they were short of time and shouldn’t waste one single second on idle chatting. He grabbed Adam’s elbow and pointed the way to their next objective.  

Once they reached their new destination, the security chief continued to look at him with his arms crossed in front of his chest, but it didn’t take him too long have his attention divided to other points in the receptacle. Probably, he was looking for a vent or a way out without attracting attention. Frank took out his laptop and laid it on a flat surface to input all the information obtained. It took him only a few minutes to create a blueprint of the area, however, it was incomplete. Most likely, the different server rooms stored a piece of the total database each, which made it easier for the embassy to counter an attack, besides providing better protection to the most sensitive information.

            - Paragon can't be too far ahead, most of the functions of this network can only be controlled from a very short distance and only her could have wrote such a solid code. It's so good that I can't tell if I will be able to bypass her security measures and it is practically impossible to overwrite her code without her knowing it. The simplest way to go down a few levels is using the elevator that is around here... - he murmured pointing to a mark on the map. - That elevator has to have something to be able to be activated. A card, a key, whatever. You have to avoid at all costs to alter too many elements to prevent the possibility of detection. The easiest solution is knockout a security guard and…

            - I don't tell you how to do your job and you don't tell me how to do mine. I'm not going to knock out a security guard in front of a thousand witnesses and try to steal a card that we don't know if he has on him. I've spotted a possible exit, go with me up there and stay still while I check where that air duct takes us. - The look Frank gave him made him realize his words. - You can complain all you want, but I won't leave you here alone. If one of those guards comes and points a gun at you, I want to be in front. I help you climb.

Adam stood on tiptoe and opened the lid of the duct with a wave of his hand. He took a couple of steps back for a running start and with a single jump he slipped inside. The tech placed the computer into his satchel and approached the duct with indecision, the last time he tried to climb something that tall was in high school. Before he could figure out how to get up there, Adam was half out of the air vent and offering him an outstretched hand. Frank put his arms around Adam's neck, the security chief grabbed his waist and tried to pull him up. After several attempts, the ex-cop gave up and released him.

            - It's amazing how light you are and how hard it is for me to get you up here. I know this isn't your thing, but can't you be just a little more cooperative? Jump, as high as you can.

            - Am I supposed to apologize for not having a body that has been sculpted with a divine chisel? - he said, giving a small jump.

As the words left his mouth, he realized what he had said, but it was too late. Adam's hands grabbed his ass and pulled him up with a big boost. It only took a second, however, it took much longer for Francis to recover from the dizziness the small exploit caused him. When he realised, the security chief had checked all the possible exits and walked all the way back to the tech, pulling at his hand and prompting the other man follow him. The vent's exit led to a room full of cleaning utensils. Frank pulled out his computer again to let him see the map. After a quick glance, Adam rushed to remove some boxes, soon revealing the entrance of another air duct behind them. Adam bent down to get into the duct and, before disappearing completely, turned his head to look at him again as if he was about to tell him something. Finally, he decided to remain silent and continued stepping through.

The only thing he could do was the same as he always did in the Tech Lab, only this time he was going to do it while cursing his own brain for putting words in his mouth that he should not utter. He sat down helplessly on a couple of stacked wooden boxes and stared at the images returned from the computer screen. He couldn't do anything but wait.

The conduit had a large gap, apparently connecting that room to a long corridor on a lower floor. Adam seemed to have listened to all his instructions. He was careful not to be detected by any camera and knocked out the guards who were on the way to search in their pockets for something that could activate the elevator. After touring most corridors at the lower floor, he found the long-awaited server room. He knocked out the man who was guarding it and returned to the cleaning room.

Adam poked his head through the conduit and gestured for Frank to come closer. Again, the tech put the laptop into his satchel and went through the conduit with great difficulty, walking crouched and without producing noise was a much more complicated task than expected. When they reached the unevenness of the canal, Adam let himself fall. His augs helped him reach the ground without making a single noise when hitting the metallic floor. Afterward, he extended his arms to help him go down.

They continued walking until they reached the servers room and, after closing the door behind them, Frank placed his laptop on a table. A quick query to the database record was enough to see that it contained the same information as the previous one, but the rows and registers deleted in this one were completely different from what he could find before. He tried to extract the password from the next server room and began the search for the new information stored in that computer. The fact that all the information stored in the building was separated, confirmed all the information he discovered years ago about Nikolai. While Frank worked, the security chief sat in the chair and fumbled in one of his coat pockets, fishing a cyberboost bar to eat.

            - You're too emotional with the people you care about, and since that Archangel hacker and you have had something, that's a pretty serious problem right now. Do you want some advice? Whatever happens, don't give whatever you have in your power to that man.

            - Is that advice from a friend or from a former officer?

            - It's from someone who has your best interest at heart and doesn't want anything bad to happen to you because you give too many opportunities to someone who doesn't deserves any. - he placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed fondly - I've got three different cards belonging to some of these guards, one of them must be the elevator’s. Stay here to do... whatever you do when I'm not here, I'll come for you as soon as I have cleared the next area.

Frank was left alone with a server full of information, a laptop with an incomplete blueprint and the images from Adam's retinal prosthesis. He was right, keeping a cool head was beginning to feel too complicated, this mission they were both undertaking had too many personal implications. The tech was trying to find something useful in the new database and, in the meantime, kept an eye on every step of Adam. The lower floor was protected by two giant mechs, several turrets and a pair of laser sensors, the only way to deactivate those defenses without triggering the alarm was to find the terminal that controlled them, but there was no way to tell him that. The only thing Pritchard could do was cling to the blurred image, trying to cheer him through a monitor.

Frank sat in the chair trying to contain the impulse to run to the elevator, trying to help Adam without really knowing how. He decided to finish the data transferring, then he put his laptop  back in his satchel, planning to leave it in there until the other man returned. There was no point in torturing himself watching a scenario that seemed like a death trap and, if the worst happened, he couldn't do anything to solve it either.

            - Francis, we have a serious problem. Well, several problemas actually - a very familiar growly voice called from several meters behind him. His tone was so firm that Frank’s knees trembled for a brief moment. Turning his head, he found Adam sitting on the ground leaning his head against the wall. One hand on his chest, trying to breathe with great difficulty - I haven't been able to explore the whole area, I had to turn around early. I want to go down again to open the door that I couldn't reach, but... God... something strange happened in my head, I think it's the cranial implant.

Worried, Frank crouched down beside him to check his condition. He didn't need to monitor his vital signs to know that he was suffering from a very severe tachycardia that was getting worse every time. He placed his hands on the implant that held the lenses, a small touch managed to make them retreat. His eyes were watery and the rings of the retinal implant were out of phase. There was only one diagnosis that brought all these anomalies together.

            - What you are suffering is an pheromone overdose. Usually it would take two or three days to recover, but don't worry: your sentinel implant will solve it in a couple of minutes. When you go back to the lower floor level, try not to breathe too fast and don't forget to activate your rebreather implant to filter the air. If they have bothered to create a chemical barrier like that, whatever is in that room is big.- He sat next to him and placed his hand on Adam's rosy cheeks. He had a high fever, but it wasn't going to take him long to recover completely.

            - If I think about it with a cool head... I've been poisoned by other toxic substances before and the procedure to follow was similar to what I'm doing here: get away from the toxic gas cloud, put myself in a cover and wait for the implant to repair all the damage, but I wanted... _needed_ your company. I really miss your sarcastic comments though the infolink and I wanna have you close. The last time I behaved in such a childish way, I was still with Megan. - He ran a hand over his face, probably looking for some relief in the coolness of the metal - When we get out of here, we need to stop fooling around and face all of… whatever this is. I think the situation has gone completely out of our hands at this point.

Probably the pheromones were causing Adam to address that topic of conversation and that wasn't a good time to bring it up. Although if Frank was completely honest with himself, no time was going to be good. They were going to have to be paralyzed for several minutes until Adam recovered completely and, if he closed the conversation abruptly, he might send a message very different from the one he wanted.

            - I think you're absolutely right. Since what happened with Nireen... _Nikolai, -_ he corrected himself - I've never allowed myself to feel affection for another person and…

            - Whenever you try to overcome it by engaging in a conversation with another person or forcing yourself to go to a new date, you feel like you are cheating. - Adam supplied, completing his sentence.

They looked at each other for what seemed an eternity, sharing a pair of sad smiles. The moment was so absurdly intimate that none of them dared to add anything else. Frank was the first to break eye contact to rest his head on the other man’s shoulder. He felt invaded by a flood of thoughts that made him see things in perspective again. Both were infiltrated in an embassy and that conversation had been initiated because of Adam's intoxication.

            - It's funny, our paths went their separate ways many years ago, but I still felt guilty for moving on. Until… you. You burst into my life like a hurricane and turned it all upside down. I've found myself remembering some moments of the past, but it has never been anything too serious. And then you received that call and reality hit me in the face, hard. If you get hurt because of me, I don’t know if...

            - Don't worry about me. The last time I badly hurt myself in one of these crazy fights, I found out that a sassy engineer was taking care of me all the time. He has the most soulful blue eyes I've ever seen, but he has been ignoring me lately. Maybe I should make some wounds on purpose to see him again. - Adam said winking at him. The tech gave him a wide smile as he got up, the man was really good at helping to avoid his panic attacks. When he walked towards the elevator the security chief grabbed his arm. - You don't have any implants to help you deal with those pheromones. You stay here.

            - I think you're very aware that I can handle its effects. Right, Jensen? - he said with a smirk. Adam was completely paralyzed to hear those words and while his cheeks became more and more rosy, Frank snatched the card he had in his hand and called the elevator.

The ride was quiet, but as soon as the doors opened the stage changed completely. Adam grabbed his hand and crouched down, forcing him to imitate his behavior. They walked together through an area full of boxes that seemed to be placed in a pattern that coincided perfectly with the route that the mechs had around the room, probably Adam placed them before going back up. Once they reached the other end of the warehouse, they could find an air duct with the metal grate open. The ominous sound emitted by the legs of the mech stomping on the asphalt was heard much farther once they were inside the duct.

While Adam tried to figure out the exact time to make a run and finally approach the metal door leading to Paragon’s hacker lair. It had to be there, the heavily guarded door wasn’t anywhere to be seen in the blue print. Frank pulled slightly on his trench coat to reveal part of his polycarbon arm. A small movement served to expose one of its security ports, he reached into his satchel and connected a bio-cell to recharge all the energy his partner might have lost. When all the modified elements were back in their place, the security chief stepped forward to move one of the boxes and create another cover between the corridor and the door.

After a signal, Frank placed himself behind the box and crawled his way down the corridor. The door was protected with a digital lock whose password was not stored in the database.

A slight pressure in the metal area was enough to disengage the panel from the wall and expose a security port. A simple mistake would call the attention from all the security of that room. He opened the terminal associated with that device and started the countdown: nine seconds.

At the moment Frank injected a Trojan into the system, the mech that patrolled the area changed its route and began to approach the area where both men were hiding. While inspecting the code and desperately searching for a security loophole, he could see out of the corner of his eye that Adam had a EMP grenade in his hand, ready to leave the cover at any time. As soon as he managed to locate the loophole, he quickly rewrote the conflicting code line in order to exploit the vulnerability. All that remained was to run the new code remotely from his computer and cross his fingers wishing he had not made any syntax errors.

The countdown stopped, leaving a message written in green typography: _Unlocked_. Frank put the panel back in place, making the lock to emit a small pulse that served to drive away the mech. He smiled, finally he had managed to do something that really made a noticeable difference in that mission and was of great help to Adam. If he could convince Paragon to abandon the insane plan in which Nicolai had involved her, accompanying Adam to the embassy would have been worth it.

The security chief placed a hand on the tech's chest and pushed gently. He wanted him to stay out while inspecting the area, but that was not going to be possible. If Paragon was in there, she was going to give a few explanations. He opened the door very slowly and entered the room with a gun in his hand while Frank walked beside him. Soon, they found a room full of monitors, each of them connected to different security cameras. The lifeless body of one of the embassy’s guards was lying near the door in a pool of blood. In the back of the room, a young woman was sitting in a chair with the seat reclined back and resting her imbued in Converse with laces of gaudy colors badly knotted feet on the accompanying table. The tight jeans she wore were so torn that they could see her red fishnet stockings and straps on her thigh, probably holding the holster of the gun she was gripping.

In her partially shaved head, one could see a tattoo and the ports of a cranial implant that was connected by a cable to one of the many devices thrown over the long table. The connection with the computer device kept her in a trance, preventing her from noticing their presence. Adam decided to take advantage of the situation and took the gun she held with a weak grip of her mechanical hand. Frank approached the keyboard next to which a black and blue neon leather jacket was thrown, to try to deactivate all defenses before she realized it. A couple of clicks were enough to access the entire system. The amount of information that that computer was handling was too big, making an exhaustive search impossible. The tech hastened to make a copy of the most recent files, coincidentally its modification date matching with the exact day and time of Sarif Industries' attack.

As it was expected, the Neural Subnet’s own defences alerted the young woman, who was soon disconnected from it. She emitted an uncomfortable grunt and pulled the cable from her head abruptly, the sudden movement causing part of her face to be covered by her long black hair. The overall calmness on her face was completely erased when she saw Frank. Adam immobilized the girl with one hand to keep her from getting out of the chair. The woman tried to search for her gun with her eyes on the floor until she finally found the hilt protruding from the security chief's coat.

            - Who are…? _You!_ I don't know if you are stupidly brave or bravely stupid to show your ugly mug after everything that happened. - She snapped. Her olive skin turned pink around her cheeks product of the burst of anger. Maybe Adam was right: if she had her gun within reach, she would have fired. - You didn’t have the balls to come alone so you had to bring an action-man with you, huh? I don’t know why I'm surprised.

            - Why the hell are you the one who's angry? It was you who compiled my data and gave it to the police! I never did anything that put you in danger and you know it!

            - I thought so too! You were like a brother to me until I discovered that you were willing to put our location in danger because of the mistake of an asshole. You were really willing to put us down on our knees! And you know what is the worst of all this? That _you_ were the one who didn't stop suspecting of all of us! _"You should check all these irregularities in the system, I think there is someone who is changing the location of our information at very predetermined times"_ You almost get us fooled by your paranoid speech! And in the end... it turns out that it was you all the time! If that's your definition of not putting me in danger, I'm not impressed. - as she finished the angry rant, her almond eyes let out a tear that blurred part of her black eyeliner.

Frank looked at Adam for a few seconds with a completely terrified expression, hoping that he could understand much of the situation with a simple glance. After so many years without maintaining contact and, in spite of everything that happened that fateful day, the tech still kept good memories about her. Paragon's behavior didn't surprised him at all, but her words hurt much more than they should. He didn't dare to articulate a single word, he didn't even intended to try convincing the woman otherwise, he hadn't discussed the matter with Adam either, so he would not be surprised if he decided to deal with her roughly.

He indeed aimed his gun to her neural implant.

            - I am the one with a gun pointing to your head and you are the one who put a lot of effort into getting us killed. For me, it’s easier to simply pull the trigger instead of trying to reason with someone who seems to be very invested in getting rid of us. If we are talking right now it’s because Francis over there has wasted precious time trying to convince me into making a small stop before solving the real motive that has brought us here in order to prevent an innocent person from being caught in the crossfire. Now, can you tell me his was a good idea at all?

Adam acted as if he knew everything that had happened, assuming that the story he had heard was completely true, trusting Frank more than anyone had ever done. He had seen him trying to make sense of the attack on the Headquarters and all its consequences, the blow of undergoing a life-altering surgery and the discovery of all the information that Sarif and his ex-girlfriend had been hiding from him. Surely long before those events, there had been other terrible blows and even so, this man was putting his so many times betrayed trust on Pritchard.

Suddenly, Frank understood everything: the little jokes and his tough-guy attitude were a façade, a behavior almost as poorly disguised as his own, specially designed to try to avoid the same kind of problem. Adam had suffered as much or more than he had during his entire life and nothing prevented him from continuing to fight for what he believed was right. The world needed more people like Adam Jensen: people who didn't mind sacrificing their own well-being to do the right thing. After all, that was exactly the same thing he intended to do before ending up in jail. Maybe it was time to take his example, stop regretting the mistakes of the past, finding a way to move forward and resuming the fight he abandoned. Perhaps if they joined forces they could discover the truth that both of them needed to hear.

After so many years, maybe it was not too late to trust someone again, maybe this time things would turn out well.

            - I think your friend has only told you half of the story: Apparently he believes to be a perfect Mister Righteous and was willing to expose our entire operation to help the government to find each and every one of us. We were all going to share their same destiny! Thanks to Archangel and me only the traitor got what he had coming for him. I hope you guessed what the other inmates do to the snitches in jail, you coward!

            -That's just what I needed to hear! If nobody has found you, it's because I shut the fuck up at the trial and during those damn interrogations. Are you fucking blind? If I had spilled the whole deal I could have screwed not only you and Archangel, but each and every member of the group. And not only that, I could get out of prison with a new identity and protection from the FBI! I never said absolutely nothing about anyone and it cost me dearly. I did it to help all the group to keep their anonymity, but above all: to prevent the FBI from doing the same thing they did to me to _you_.

            - You let Silver escape at the cost of compromising our position, and now you want me to believe all this crap? - The woman looked at him with a sad look and tears in her eyes - He agreed to work with us knowing what the consequences of his mistakes were, we all did. Archangel said that it’s most likely that he activated the alarm on purpose to get rid of all the evidence and you knew it, that's why you helped him escape!

            - You seem to have a lot of confidence in that man. Do you have any reason to distrust us and trust him so much? - Adam started. - There is a literal transcription of everything that happened in a trial and a report of each interrogation. If you really are so reluctant to believe his side of the story, maybe you should check all those documents and try to convince yourself.

In silence, Adam was a spectator of the duel of glances held by the two old friends. Her hardened expression was relaxing minute by minute, she seemed to be fitting all the pieces of the puzzle inside her mind.

            - We couldn't locate any of those documents, someone insisted on hiding or destroying them. - she admitted with her head down, letting out a choked sob that broke the eternal silence and made Frank take a step forward, with the intention of approaching her.

The security chief pointed the gun at the ground, discreetly placed himself in front of Frank and, before loosening his hand to release her wrists, he gestured to the tech not to get too close. The grip on his pistol remained firm, as if he was ready to shoot at any moment.

Paragon lowered her feet from the table and got up from the chair to rest her hands on the table and bend over to look at one of the screens. They hadn’t contacted each other in years, and both had changed and were still the same. During nights when loneliness was his only company, he forced himself to hate the friend he loved as a sister. He could never do it although, and thanks to the look she gave him, he understood that she hadn’t achieved it either.

            - You were never able to completely overwrite all my security codes, I remember that perfectly. But now, you are here. Archangel and I have worked hard analyzing this network to prevent this from happening... How did you do it?

            - Hey, I almost managed to overwrite them once. - They both sketched the same mirthless smile, almost at the same time. - We are hackers, not computers. Sometimes small events can happen completely unrelated to us, things that we can't compute or program. Permanently trying to have total control in such a large network is insane and there is always a risk that we can't contemplate. If you obsess to find it... in the best scenario you'll end up working fifteen hours a day for seven days a week for nothing and at worst... well...

Frank leaned his back against the wall without knowing how to finish the sentence. He knew very well what could happen in the worst case. He couldn't tell her that he still blamed himself for the terrorist attack. Each day he had to carry the burden in his conscience that, if he hadn't trusted Sarif and done that network analysis much earlier, maybe Adam could still have a normal life and none of the scientists would have died.

After a while, the tech managed to regain his composure and, without knowing why, he looked at Adam instinctively. Somehow, his presence helped him to better withstand all the negative emotions that overflowed his mind from time to time. By establishing eye contact he felt comforted and secure, like the other man was able to hear each and every one of his thoughts, even though his eyes were covered by his yellow lenses.

            - Until I can see these documents for myself I won’t believe either of the two versions of the story. I can beat his ass out, but I’m not stupid and I know that without my weapon I am no match against you, mister Jensen. If you wanted to shoot, I would already be dead so I guess you folks just want Archangel. My loyalty ends when my own life is hanging by a thread so... go for it, I won't prevent it. He’s in the attic offices, the third one starting on the left, controlling another completely different subnet. I'll find a way out on my own when you finish your pending business. And this is all the help I'm going to give you.

Adverse circumstances joined them a long time ago, but their kindred spirits didn’t prevent their relationship from being very tense, their strong willed personalities often clashing each other. However, Frank couldn't remember the exact number of times she had helped him deal with his inner demons and he didn't want to remember all the times he had done the same for her.

Many years had passed since they paths split and, despite her harsh words, he could feel the remorse in her voice. She would never be able to hurt him, what happened that fateful day was the terrible consequence of a series of unfortunate events orchestrated by someone else.

He had been to hell and back to protect his new family, but especially to protect her. A part of him knew that she would have done the same if the situation had been reversed. _"If we leave and we don't offer help, maybe she won't make it. How can I tell you all this without saying anything?"_

Adam raised his hand as he was about to wave her goodbye, but gave a little tug on Frank's arm instead and frowned, guiding the tech towards the door.

            - This place seems to be the security center of the entire building. You will be much more safe in here than at my side. - Adam told him, his uncovered eyes going from his partner to the young woman still sat by the terminal’s table. - I have a little over half an hour to finish this, so I'm going to finish what we started and, when I'm done, I will come to help you two out, all right? - he opened the door and left the two hackers alone.

The security chief was extremely stubborn. If Frank knew him well, and he liked to think he did, the man would try to reach the penthouse by climbing the elevator shaft or doing some other crazy thing while searching for a suitable route to Archangel. Since Paragon wasn’t going to raise the alarm, the task of hacking the terminals at close range just got way simpler, rendering cranial augmentations or the presence of a qualified hacker unnecessary. Frank ran a hand through his hair thinking about what to do without alerting the embassy or Nikolai, but nothing of useful occurred to him, _it was so frustrating!_

So many lost nights looking at the ceiling, looking for answers to questions that he didn’t dare to ask and so many years where he was a mere spectator of his own life, all these should have hardened his heart. And yet, he could feel it pumping so strongly it felt like it was going to come out of his chest. Anger, fear, happiness... Everything he had been suppressing all those years was coming back all of a sudden, at the worst possible moment. _'Too emotional'_ those were his words. He used to be like that, but he stopped giving in these _imbalances_ so many years ago that they were almost part of another life. Memories that intermingled with Adam's rough lips, the way his beard scratched his face whenever they kissed and the stupid obsession that the man had to undo his ponytail whenever he had occasion.

            - How much does he know? - Paragon asked, her rispid tone shaking him off his reveries.

            - For now, enough. When this is over, everything.

            - You must have completely lost your mind. Do you plan to tell him all the details of the Electronic War as well?

The double side of the augmented technology. The quality of life of half of the world's population was improved at the expense of making them addicted to a ridiculously expensive drug, which caused a great enrichment of a few lucky companies and countries, this was just the tip of the iceberg that made to the newspapers headlines. Few people knew there was an even darker side to it, that governments world wide insisted on keeping secret, a dirty secret and useless fight that only served to grant more and more personal power to some individuals that never deserved it in the first place.

The Electronic War was a silent war in which no soldier was needed and no weapon was fired, however, it was just as dangerous as any bloodthirsty armed conflict. A battle that seemed endless where the only thing that kept a man alive was also what could end up killing him. No one could know more secrets than were due and that was the mistake that Frank made, unfortunately he realized too late.

He wanted to change the world too fast, facing alone a beast so big that it almost ended up devouring him. Ironically, it was Sarif who helped him get out of that death sentence just to offer him a job that had become another life imprisonment. One that managed to shape, day by day and piece by piece, his frail mind until it become what it was now: someone who obsessed over a decade on hiding his location, losing the little sanity he still had after jail.

The memory of a blurred security camera feed returned to his mind: A man wearing a full body armor grabbed Adam by the neck and slammed him into the wall like a ragdoll. Then, a life-and-death surgery that restructured the former cop’s body without his consent, turning him into a weaponized person under the whim of a millionaire businessman. Forced to accept a new condition that he didn't yet know how to control and hated with all his might. Seven months weren’t enough to recover from something like that.

Two lives completely destroyed by the same stupid cause. It was time to stop cowering, Frank admitted to himself. Nikolai had bought himself another fight, using the same strategy as the last time: hiding behind the influence of powerful employers, forcing others to do the dirty work. The only thing that had changed this time and turned out to be his undoing: he had to involve Adam in this nightmare. _"I'm going to get to the bottom of this and stop hiding. If this means the end, so be it. I'm not afraid of you anymore,"_ he said to himself, clenching his jaw.

            - _Everything_. - he said harshly, his cheeks burning with anger.

She let out a disapproving noise and crossed her arms. Frank ignored her, placed his computer on the table. He had a plan, of course it was suicidal, but he wasn't going to allow Adam take such a big risk on his own. Someone was going to have to help him deactivate all those security devices stealthily so he could keep moving forward.

Paragon was not going to help him, she was afraid of Nikolai's influence. He could not blame her, he wouldn't wish not even an enemy the same fate he had to live through. However, she did nothing to prevent Frank from inspecting the images from the security cameras.

            - Your friend holds the gun exactly like a cop. A simple officer doesn't have such expensive augmentations, most likely he has worked in the army or something like that. I hope you know what you are doing, - she commented, trying to start a conversation. - Mister Jensen told us not to do anything... If you end up activating some alarm, all the security guards will came after you and we will be dead before your man could return.

Any remaining patience he had was completely exhausted. She knew very well that he had no endurance for nonsense and this was one of those meaningless conversations that he always fled from.

            - I was the one who taught you how to work with the target profiles, so… do me a favor and don't bother in giving me this ton of crap. Do you really think I don’t know that both of you have an extensive report about Jensen on your desk? Besides, either I help him neutralize Archangel or we both die in the attempt. In either case, win-win situation for you. - He said brusquely, trying to end the conversation.

            - Wow, you have managed to surpass yourself. Now you are even more prickier than before. I'm impressed. - she said playfully.

            - I'm glad that one of us managed self-improvement. - he snapped without taking his eyes off the computer screen - We have already finished with this reunion pent-up talk? I have work to do.

The only answer he got from her was a half smile he could see from the corner of his eye, which infuriated him even more: He was well aware that it was much safer inside that room than outside without Adam’s protection, but the security chief was going to need help as well. Without Paragon backing up Nikolai’s safety network, everything should be much simpler. The security of the embassy in the upper levels would be considerably lower, he could hack remotely almost everything. Just like the old times.

When he programmed Aerith he never thought that he would use it in such an implausible situation. Little by little, the VI was being able to mark the correct path, pointing out possible routes the guards could take. The images in his laptop caught Paragon’s attention. She approached him to look over Frank's shoulder at the screen in a complete silence, full of curiosity and he felt again transported back to simpler times.

            - It's a little crude, but it seems... An AI? Have you programmed it entirely on your own? Don't answer, I would recognize your code anywhere. - She said perplexed, approaching the screen even more and looking at it with a broad smile. - Since you are now with the good guys... You know that Google is hiring programmers to do some of his stupid crap, right? Project Manager or some sort. Good shit. My god... I can’t stop looking at it. It's just... fucking awesome. Please tell me that your AI has a name.

He turned his head to return her a death stare, but what he found made his bad mood disappear completely: She ran her hand over her face to remove the hair that prevented her from seeing the screen correctly. That simple movement helped Frank to focus his attention on the edges of his skin that were in contact with the implants endings, a purple crust covering part of both her skin and the aug: a clear symptom of the first phase of Darrow Deficiency Syndrome. That wasn't the right time to mention it, he wasn't carrying any Neuropozyne and he didn't want to mention which was his place of work either. Maybe he would never see her again, but he wanted to help her one last time.

            - It have none, you can call anything you want. - lied sitting at the table, accepting his peace offering while waiting for the results of the simulation.

            - You create a goddamn AI and you don't name it. What a shame! Good thing I'm here to solve all your problems! It has to be something which reminds you of me. Let me think... I know! What do you think of _‘Aerith’_? We spent a whole week discussing what was the correct way to write it. You even created a thread on fucking Reddit and it had so much impact that it came out in the local news. In fucking 2016! You really wanted to be right, huh?

            - The way you say it, you make me look like an insensitive imbecile. You are the one who spent a week breaking my balls by saying, and I quote here, _"you have no idea about computer security and now you have shown me that you don't know anything about Final Fantasy either, you script kiddie"_. I would have let it go if you had admitted your rookie mistake, but you didn't and your old handle was a flagrant description of how much I was right. I am very happy to know that you have changed it, though. I was ashamed to share both profession and hobby with _"Aeris"_. - He said, making quote marks in the air.

Both burst out laughing. A beep on the laptop erased Frank's smile and bring him back to reality. He stood up again with the same bitter expression he always had.

            - I've missed so damn bad our stupid arguments for freaky stuff ... - she said, regaining her composure as well. - Your friend will benefit from an extra help to access the isolated area of the attic, that's true. But... you know. For your own good as well as for the fucking sexy cop, I hope you're right.

 _Fucking sexy cop_. Never a few words had described a person so well. Frank blushed. They used to sit at coffee shops for _hours_ and discuss bad dates and hot anime dudes.

            - When have I not been? - He said with a broad smile - You killed the guy who was guarding this area, so I guess you don't need anyone to babysit you. Wait for me here until I give you a signal and then, leave. What's your frequency?

            - An old friend taught me to trust my skills and to fend for myself without needing help from anyone. He was a paranoid and a bit idiotic at times, but he had this stupid thing for being right almost always so... I don't need any signal. I'll leave as soon as I hear the sound of an alarm or as soon as I see both of you leaving the building through the security cameras. Oh, and good luck, NuclearSnake.

He nodded and approached the door. Despite all the bad stuff that they both had to endure, they still had the same connection as they have ten years ago. Feeling joy and sadness at the same time was a strange, but pleasant sensation, it was what nostalgia felt like, he supposed. There was no time to lick his wounds though, he needed to find Adam as soon as possible.

The woman stood between the tech and the door. The datapad screen she held in her hands lit her face from below, her eyes were also augmented.

            - Archangel expects this datapad within fifteen minutes, it should contain the information that I've extracted from that server. Right now it's blank, but I don't know... maybe you can figure something out. You were good at this kind of thing.

            - I don't need your help to get out of this, I'm fine.

            - You know as well as I do that there are many things that could go wrong. It would be almost a miracle if you get to the attic and, even if you do, he will shoot you as soon as he sees you. It's dangerous to go alone! Please, take it.

Paragon’s words gave him a crazy idea. All he needed was to reprogram that datapad as quickly as possible, cross his fingers and hope for the best. This new way of tackling the problem was much more effective, but infinitely more risky. As it used to be in all his adventures as Black Hat in the past, the only difference is that this time he was not going to have any backup that would get him out of trouble if things went wrong.

He had to calculate the risks thoroughly: Most likely, Nireen would be enjoying himself so much for being in control of the situation that he wouldn’t even do a security check of the datapad before connecting it to his computer, with any luck this would give Frank a couple of seconds to help Adam to end this living nightmare once and for all.

            - Take care _frangine_. - He said snatching the datapad from her hands and going out the door, this time with the intention of not returning.

            - Hey, don't even think about using that French shit on me. This is _not_ a farewell, okay? We will meet again, tough guy. - she said in a trembling voice.

He prepared to leave for once but she prevented him of doing so again: not containing her tears, she hugged Frank tightly and buried her face in his chest. Unsure of what he should do, he gently rubbed her back with his free hand, while the rest of his body was completely immobile.

            - Until we meet again, then. - He told her as they separated. Finally, he walked to the door and when he was out of the room, he couldn't resist the temptation to make a final remark - Hey, Sugar Puff: nice haircut.

            - You stupid fuck! Call me that shit again and I swear to you that I’m gonna... - before letting her finish the sentence, Frank closed the door behind him letting out a giggle. At last he was beginning to understand why Adam loved to annoy him: It was definitely quite fun, he had to give him that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to make a small disclaimer. I know that none of you needs to read it and I feel ridiculous for writing it, but I'll do it anyway. Just in case:  
> Please bear in mind that it is a fic about some gay ship and not a masterclass in cybersecurity.  
> This chapter contains small technicalities related to computer security and I am very aware that some of them are not true to reality, but I have written it like this in order to speed up the plot and because, after all... who wants read boring technicalities?  
> Still, if there is someone extremely curious/angry about it, I will be happy to discuss literaly anything computer related with you for hours. This is my [tumblr](https://peppercupcake.tumblr.com/), feel free to DM me.

**Author's Note:**

> Check [tumblr](https://peppercupcake.tumblr.com/) for more updates. 
> 
> Have a nice day!


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